Girl Troubles
by Iwin Ulose
Summary: Vivi realizes she loves Luffy, and Nami realizes she is jealous. Of course, Luffy is oblivious to the whole situation... but how long can he stay oblivious? LuffyxVivi, LuffyxNami COMPLETED
1. Prologue

Prologue

**I have not seen all the episodes yet. I am in the Arabasta arc, with Vivi. The crew is about to face Mr. 3. I am on episode 73 to be exact. ANYWAY, that is when this takes place, after they leave that island. The Going Merry is on the way to Arabasta.**

**Also, this fic contains big Arabasta arc spoilers, and lots of 'em, too. : P **

**You have been warned. ; )**

Vivi was restless. She tossed and turned in her sleep. Nami, who couldn't fall asleep either, watched her and frowned.

(A/N- Anything in parenthesis is a thought.)

(Poor girl,) Nami thought. (That ordeal with the giants and those Baroque Works agents must have terrified her. Thank god Luffy and Usopp were there... We would have died and turned into wax... and Vivi would've been killed by that giant if Luffy wasn't there for her...)

-Vivi's dream-

The two fighting giants Brogy and Dorry stop fighting and look at Vivi. She freezes in terror. They start laughing and they raise their weapons...

"GOMU GOMU NO... ROCKET!"

Luffy comes flying out of the nearby forest and head butts one giant into the other. They both fall down.

Suddenly, Mr. 3, Mr. 5, and Miss Valentine show up, all with horrible looks on their faces...

Luffy stands in front of Vivi protectively. "I got this," he says, out of breath. "Run, Vivi, okay?" He hands her his straw hat. "Take this and run. Promise me you'll give it back, okay?" She doesn't move. The agents start charging.

"GO!" Luffy screams at Vivi before taking the agents head on. An explosion from Mr. 5's snot knocks Vivi out.

When she comes to, she gasps at the horrific scene laid out before her. All three agents are dead. Blood is all over the place. A lot of it is on Luffy's face and hands.

Luffy is out of breath, but he is smiling at the blue-haired princess. He kneels down on both knees and puts Vivi's head in his lap. "You okay?" he asks, stroking her hair.

She finds that her heart is racing. This boy... this man... saved her life. She thought he was so strange. He always acted really weird, really childish. But now she sees his compassionate side. "Vivi... I'll always be here to protect you..." Luffy says softly.

Vivi gets up and kneels in front of Luffy. Wordlessly, he takes her hands. Their faces are getting closer... closer...

-End of dream-

Vivi suddenly sat up in bed in a cold sweat. Nami quickly lied down, pretending to be asleep. She opened one eye the _tiniest_ bit.

Vivi was smiling. She was actually smiling.

(What the hell?) Nami wondered. (Didn't she just have a nightmare?) Then, Vivi said it. The simple words that started it all.

"Luffy... oh, Luffy..." Vivi whispered to herself passionately. She collapsed back onto the bed with a happy sigh. "I think... I'm in love..."

She closed her eyes, and Nami's eyes went wide in shock.

(She... she _loves_ him? Wow...) She silently chuckled to herself. (Like I said before... poor girl.)

Something in the back of her mind was trying to tell her that this was a big deal to her, that it was something she didn't like. She shook it off. (Nah, I don't care if she likes him. Hell, that guy doesn't even understand the first _thing_ about love. And besides, even if they end up together... they would really be a cute couple...)

Something in the back of her mind told her she was lying to herself, but she didn't really notice because she had just fallen asleep.

**Sorry if this fic goes against the story line in any way. You can change that kind of stuff in fan fiction anyway, right? This is my first, and probably last, attempt to make a romance fic. Heh, romance is not exactly my forte; this is harder than I thought... Please review and give me any helpful advice you think I might need!**


	2. An Ordinary Day

Chapter 1- An "Ordinary" Day

**To my reviewer Violet: Trust me. I am a big LuffyxNami fan. :) But who knows how this will turn out?**

**Also, it turns out that I just cannot make an all-romance fic, so I made it Romance/General because there will be some action/adventure and humor, too. Okay, here it goes!**

**Oops, I forgot the disclaimer. I do not own One Piece. Okay, NOW start!**

"Okay, everyone, breakfast is ready!"

Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro came running in about two seconds after Sanji made the announcement. Luffy is in the lead. "FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!" he cried.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Sanji yelled angrily. Before Luffy made it all the way into the kitchen, Sanji kicked him hard in the chest. The kick sent the captain flying right back through the doorway to the kitchen, knocking Zoro and Usopp down along the way. "Ladies first," Sanji growled dangerously. His face quickly changed into a bright, cheerful smile when Nami and Vivi walked into the kitchen, stepping over the boys on the floor. "Ah, Vivi-san, Nami-san! Please excuse these rude _children_. Come and sit down."

Nami smiled at Sanji. Vivi didn't even seem to notice anything going on around her. She seemed to be in a different world. They sat down at the table. Nami gave her a quick sideways glance. She was staring into space... happily. Nami raised an eyebrow, then quickly turned to her breakfast.

Sanji stopped smiling and turned his attention to the others. "Okay, you louts," he snarled. "Get your food."

With a cheer, Luffy and Usopp got up and ran to the table. Zoro got up slowly and glared at Sanji. Anyone else would cower under that stare, but Sanji just glared right back.

"Watch yourself, shit cook," Zoro warned ominously.

"Same to you, baka," Sanji growled.

"Awwww, come one, you two," Nami whined with a smile. "I _hate_ it when you argue." Her face got serious. "Really, I do," she muttered to Vivi. She didn't seem to notice. Nami sighed and returned to her food.

Breakfast was amazing as usual. In fact, Luffy loved it so much, Zoro had to perform the Heimlich maneuver when he started choking on an entire strip of bacon. The strip shot out of his mouth and hit Usopp in the eye. "OW! That hurt!" "Oh, that's disgusting!" Nami said, feeling bad for Usopp. "That was in his mouth. For a long time, too." Usopp wiped his face with a napkin. "Don't remind me," he muttered. "_I'm_ supposed to be the sharpshooter here…"

Everyone laughed, except Vivi. Sanji noticed this and raised an eyebrow. "Why, what's the matter, my sweet Vivi-san? Is my food not suitable for your delicate taste buds?"

Zoro pretended to gag at that comment.

"What's the matter, Zoro?" Sanji said threateningly. "Are you choking, too? Need me to _kick_ it out of you?"

"WHAT?" Luffy cried. "Zoro's choking? I'll save you, just like you saved me!"

"Wait, Luffy, no-!" Zoro started to protest, but it was too late. Luffy already had his arms around him and he started the compressions.

"Uh, Luffy?" said Usopp hesitantly as Zoro's eyes started to water from the immense pain of getting the Heimlich from Luffy. "I think he's all right..." "Yeah, go Luffy!" Sanji cut in enthusiastically. "I think you've almost got it, Luffy! Just a little harder!"

Nami, sick of this, stood up, yanked Luffy off of Zoro, and threw him into a wall. Zoro collapsed onto his knees. He sighed in relief as he held his gut, wincing from the pain. "Thanks, Nami," he panted. She responded by kicking him in the face. "Stop insulting Sanji!" "Yeah!" Sanji said to Zoro smugly.

"And YOU-" She smacked Sanji so hard, he fell. "-stop instigating and making matters worse!"

Sanji looked up at her, his eyes replaced by big hearts. "Oh, Nami-san, you are so beautiful when you're serving justice!"

Usopp was laughing pretty hard at this point. Nami sighed wearily and looked at Vivi- but she wasn't there. Then she heard her voice.

"Luffy! Are you all right?" She was kneeling down beside Luffy who still wasn't up from being thrown into the wall.

"Oh, don't worry, my dear Vivi-san," said Sanji. "He's just fine. Now come and eat, my beautiful angel! You haven't even touched your food yet!"

Vivi ignored him. "Luffy, are you hurt?"

Luffy lifted his head off the floor. "Hee hee, no way!" He stood up and gave Vivi his trademark giant, toothy grin. "That happens a _lot_. Nami always gets mad." Luffy walked back to the table. "Sorry, Zoro." Zoro, still on the floor, didn't respond.

Vivi followed Luffy to the table and sat next to him. The two of them talked to each other while they ate. Nami watched them. Vivi was fully awake now. Her voice and face were lively and animated as she talked to Luffy. It was like she was having the time of her life! The others were busy fighting over the rest of the food. Luffy, still talking to Vivi, instinctively stretched his arms across the table, pushed the others away, grabbed the food, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Sanji got up and looked around angrily. "Well, it's time to clean up now, I _guess_." Nami sighed, stood up, and started picking up plates.

* * *

The rest of the day basically went on as usual. Zoro was either napping or training; Luffy and Usopp chased each other around the ship; Sanji was either cooking, flirting, or arguing with Zoro; Nami and Vivi were in the little study next to the kitchen.

Usually, Nami and Vivi talked with each other. Today, however, Vivi seemed to be off in another world, so Nami just read some books about the Grand Line.

Finally, after a while, Nami couldn't take the silence. She abruptly closed the book she was readin and put it on the table. "Hey, Vivi, what's the matter? You haven't been yourself today."

Vivi looked at Nami. She smiled. "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just... thinking about something." "What about?" Nami pressed on, trying to get her to bring up the subject first. Vivi's smile kind of faded and she looked away. "Don't worry about it. You wouldn't really understand. Sorry if I sound rude..."

(Oh, I wouldn't understand; is that it, bitch?) Nami thought angrily. The thought surprised her. (Wow... why am I getting so worked up here?)

"Nami," said Vivi suddenly. Nami looked at her. "Yes?" she responded kindly. "Have you ever... um... well... H-h... How long ago did you meet Luffy?"

Nami pretended to look surprised at the question. "Oh, well, gosh, I don't know. It's been such a long time." "Do you think he's... strange at all?" she continued without even listening to Nami's answer. Nami frowned. "No, not really. I mean, I've seen worse." She smiled, and then she put a curious expression on her face. "Why? What's the matter?"

"Oh, uh, nothing," Vivi answered hastily.

Nami slowly smiled. She forced herself to keep looking calm, but her heart started pounding really fast...

"You like him, don't you?"


	3. Feelings Revealed

Chapter 2 – Feelings Revealed

"You like him, don't you?"

Vivi instantly blushed. "What! No, that's... that's ridiculous! Where did you get _that_ idea from? I do not like Luffy..."

"Oh, come now," said Nami knowingly. "I'm not _stupid_, you know."

"I... I..." Vivi struggled to find words. She gave up and sighed with a smile that said, "Okay, you win."

"See?" chuckled Nami. "So... why? What is it that makes him so... great?" (How could a girl like this fall in love with a guy like _that_?)

"Well... let's see... Here, let's put it this way. Has anyone ever saved your life before?"

Nami thought about it. (Luffy... He's the only one who truly saved my life.) "Yeah..."

"The feeling that gave you, it was great, wasn't it?" "Yeah..." Nami said again, but her mind was elsewhere now...

-Flashback-

Nami falls onto her knees. All of her friends... the entire village... just rushed off to their deaths. A look of shock is frozen on her face. She starts sobbing.

Then she notices the tattoo on her shoulder. The mark of Arlong's crew. Arlong... the person who betrayed her... the person who is about to kill her entire village...

...the monster who killed her mother...

Suddenly, something in her mind snaps. She starts clawing at the tattoo on her shoulder. "Arlong," she hisses angrily. "Arlong..."

She picks up her knife... and in a fit of rage, she starts stabbing her shoulder with the mark of pure evil on it. She stabs herself over and over and over again. The dark red blood flows down her arm, covering her whole arm. She screams Arlong's name over and over as she stabs herself.

She doesn't even feel the pain... The pain in her heart is much worse.

She would have kept stabbing herself in her fit of rage... if someone didn't grab her hand and stop her.

She turns her tear-streaked face to see Luffy. His grasp on her hand is firm. She can't move it. The fit stops and she drops the knife and starts sobbing uncontrollably.

Luffy, calm as ever, just stands and watches, letting her cry.

She stops and glares at Luffy. "What are you still doing here? Didn't I tell you to leave?"

"Yeah. You did."

"So, why are you still here? Get out of here! You have no idea what's going on here! You have nothing to do with this!"

"You're right. I don't."

"Then go away! I don't want you here! Go away, go away!"

She starts throwing dirt at him. "GO AWAY! GO AWAY! Go away! Go away! Go... away... Just... go... away... go..."

She stops and starts crying even harder. Luffy doesn't move an inch. Eventually, she stops crying again and turns to look at him again, silent tears flowing down her face.

"Luffy...

"...Help me."

Wordlessly, Luffy takes off his straw hat and rather roughly places it on Nami's head. She gasps in surprise. He walks away a bit, bends down, and springs back up, shouting to the air,

"DAMN STRAIGHT!"

"Luffy..." Nami whispers.

He walks to the others. "We're going," Luffy says shortly.

"Right," Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji say in unison.

Nami watches them walk away in shock... Just like that, they go off to fight Arlong. To fight for her. They didn't even say anything. Even Usopp didn't have any doubt in his face. They are the most loyal friends she could ever have... her nakama...

* * *

(A/N- This is still the flashback.)

Later, as Nami and the villagers watch the battle between Luffy and Arlong, the two of them end up on the top floor of Arlong Park. (They're in... my room.)

Suddenly, they hear Luffy start screaming in a fit of rage.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT? SHE IS NOT SOMETHING YOU USE, SHE IS NOT A TOOL!"

There is silence for a little while. Then suddenly, the walls get smashed. Furniture and papers are flying out of the room. Luffy and Arlong can both be heard yelling in anger.

"Luffy..." Nami whispers as she watches her hundreds of maps afll to the ground. "Thank you."

Then suddenly, Arlong yells something. It sounds like he is attacking Luffy. And then...

"GOMU GOMU NO..." Luffy's foot goes right through the roof, high up into the air.

"AXE!"

The foot comes flying back down. Arlong yells in pain as the foot crushes him. The whole building starts to collapse.

The villagers try to make Nami run. "LUFFY!" she screams. (No.. he can't die...) "LUFFY!"

She starts to cry again. Then suddenly, Luffy pushes a huge rock off the top of the pile of rubble, and he climbs out, scratched, bruised, and bleeding.

"NAMI!" he yells.

She turns to look at him in surprise.

"NAMI! YOU ARE MY NAKAMA!"

Now the tears really start flowing. But this time, they are tears of joy. She smiles through the tears and nods.

(Yes... nakama... companions forever...)

-End flashback-

"Hello? Nami? Are you there?"

Vivi was trying to bring Nami back to reality. She suddenly snapped out of her reverie.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry, Vivi. You were saying?"

"Well, Luffy saved my life. But it's not only that. It's the sheer, fearless determination he shows in anything he's doing. It's how loyal he is to his nakama. It's how he is so willing to protect me, no matter what the cost... like I am the most precious thing in the world to him."

Nami simply nodded. She tried very hard to keep back the tears. One escaped. She quickly turned her face away from Vivi in order to hide it.

"Nami? What's the matter?"

"I... completely understand how you feel, Vivi." (I don't believe this... Everything she loves him for...)

"You see..." (I like him for those reasons. But... now... I think I... I...)

"Luffy... saved my life before, too."

"What?" the princess gasped.

"Yeah... Rememeber how I told you he killed the all-powerful merman Arlong?"

"Yeah..."

"Well... he did that for me." She explained her history. It took a long time. By the end of her story, both girls were wiping tears from their eyes. They noticed this and smiled.

"That's amazing..." Vivi said, awestruck by the story.

"Yeah... but now... I'm afraid I have fallen for him, too... Listening to you has made me realize it..."

They both sat in silenece for a while. Nami studied Vivi. (I wonder what she's thinking now... Is she jealous? I know I am... I don't know why I'm so jealous... Is it because my instinct is telling me Luffy would prefer her over me? Nah, what the fuck am I thinking? He has _no_ idea what's going on here! He's so immature... naïve... innocent...)

The awkward silence was broken by Usopp's urgent voice out on the deck.

"Really huge and dark storm clouds are coming our way! I can see the lightning from here... It's gonna be a vicious one!"

* * *

Sanji stepped away from the closed door to the office. (So that's what's going on... Vivi loves Luffy. And now... my sweet Nami-san does, too? What is this world coming to?) It was never like Sanji to eavesdrop, especially on ladies. It was a very rude thing to do. However, he was so worried about Vivi's strange behavior... he had to find out.

Suddenly, he heard Usopp call out the urgent warning about the storm.

"Well," he said to himself. "Time to get busy." He lit up a fresh cigarette, put it in his mouth, and calmly walked out of the kitchen and onto the deck.


	4. Tension Rising

Chapter 3 – Tension Rising

"WOAH! It's _huge_!"

Zoro sighed and looked up at the crow's nest. "Luffy, seriously, _everything_ is huge to you."

Luffy frowned. "Well, it _is_," he retorted defensively. He tossed the binoculars to Zoro. The swordsman caught them and looked in the direction Usopp and Luffy were pointing to.

The clouds were huge and they stretched out across the entire horizon. They were nearly as black as the night sky. Within the solid-looking sheets of torrential rain, forked lightning flashed everywhere, hitting the surface of the water. The monstrous waves beneath the clouds were easily big enough to swallow the Going Merry.

"...Hmmmm... Yeah, it's kinda big, I guess."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "KINDA BIG?" Luffy and Usopp screamed in disbelief.

Sanji walked up to Zoro and snatched the binoculars from his hands. "Lemme see." He looked for a good minute. He handed them back to Zoro. "Well, what scares me most is the rate at which it's moving towards us..."

Nami and Vivi walked to where Zoro and Sanji were standing. They both took a look and Nami gave out a low whistle. "_That_ is one huge storm."

"HA!" Luffy cut in. "See, Zoro? Huge! Even Nami said it was huge!"

Nami looked up at Luffy and gave him a somewhat awkward smile. Luffy grinned back. "Hey, way to back me up, Nami!" He chuckled and jumped down from the crow's nest. He looked around the ship with an expression of pure happiness on his face. "Well, I guess we gotta start making preparations, don't we?" Luffy laughed. "Oooh, this is gonna be fun!"

Sanji shook his head disbelievingly and sighed; Zoro grinned at Luffy and nodded in agreement; Vivi couldn't help but smile at Luffy's enthusiasm; Nami just firmly kept her eyes on her feet. She didn't want to face the others just now... especially Luffy.

"Oi, Usopp!" Luffy called up to the crow's nest. "What do ya wanna do? Stay up there and watch or come down here and help?"

Usopp shrugged in response. "Stay up here for now. I'll warn you when the storm is about to hit us." (Not that it matters... WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!)

"Cool," the captain responded. "Sanji, take the sail down. Vivi, start stabilizing the mast. Zoro, go down below and start fortifying the hull."

Zoro chuckled. "Stabilizing? Fortifying? Such big words, Luffy." Luffy gave his giant grin in response. He pointed to Nami. "It's from listenin' to her give orders all the time. Hee hee!" Nami couldn't help but blush. She turned away so no one would notice. However, Vivi noticed. She frowned slightly. After that, everyone got to work.

Luffy took his usual post on the front of the ship. Usopp soon came down to join him. "I kinda feel uncomfortable up there," said Usopp sheepishly. "It's kinda scary with that big storm coming and all."

Luffy shrugged. "Whatever. You can watch from here." Usopp smiled. "That's what I was planning."

"Uh... Luffy?"

Luffy and Usopp turned to see Nami. Usopp noticed her discomfort right away. She was keeping her eyes averted from their faces and she looked like she would rather be anywhere else than right there talking to him and Luffy.

Luffy, of course, didn't notice a thing. "Yo, what's up?"

"Um... what can I do to help?" Nami asked quietly. Usopp was actually kind of worried. (What's wrong with her? Is she feeling sick or something?)

Luffy shrugged again and turned his head back to the incoming storm. "I don't care. I'm sure you can find something."

Nami looked down at her feet and shuffled them nervously. Usopp frowned. "Uh... you could help Vivi fortify the mast, or you could go down below and help Zoro."

Nami smiled at Usopp. "I think I'll take the second option." She quickly walked away.

Usopp scratched his head in confusion. "I wonder what's wrong with her..." he wondered out loud. Luffy looked at Usopp. "Huh? What are you talking about? There was something wrong with her?"

Usopp sighed exasperatedly. "You're hopeless, Luffy." Luffy grinned. "Hopeless? Nah. I have all you guys in my crew! How could I be hopeless?" Usopp couldn't help but smile.

Vivi overheard the conversation while she was tying the mast's ropes to the hooks on the deck. (Luffy really loves his crew... but I'm not a member of it. How could he possibly love me if I'm not in his crew?) She frowned.

* * *

Nami found Zoro in the bottommost past of the ship. He was nailing more planks into the known weak points of the hull. He even had sheets of metal nailed to some parts of the hull. (Wow,) Nami thought. (He sure is strong. Like Luffy...) She violently shook her head. (I _have_ to get him out of my thoughts!... at least for now. We're facing a lethal storm here, and my attention _must_ stay undivided.) 

Zoro wiped sweat off his brow and turned to look at Nami. "Well? Are you gonna help, or just stand there and stare?" Nami scowled. "I'm here to _help_, baka. Why the hell else would I come down here?"

Zoro raised his eyebrows. "Aren't _we_ a little bitchy today?" "I'll show _you_ bitchy!" Nami yelled and she picked up a hammer.

"Okay, that's enough," Zoro said. He grabbed her hand to keep her from swinging. "I'd rather not get attacked by you twice in the same day. What's gotten up your ass, huh?"

She yanked her hand out of the swordsman's grasp. "You asking me stupid questions, that's what." She picked up some planks and nails and walked to another weak point in the hull and started hammering. Zoro watched her and raised an eyebrow. "Calm down, would ya? You're gonna take your fingers off with those wild swings."

"Zoro, BACK OFF," Nami growled. Zoro sighed and turned back to his work. "Whatever."

They worked silently for a while. Nami stopped for a second and looked around. (Damn this ship,) she cursed silently. (We shouldn't have to hammer so much shit into the hull like this. The Going Merry is starting to fall apart...) With that, she picked up some more nails. She was about to start again, but she was interrupted by something huge hitting the starboard side of the ship. She screamed as the ship rocked dangerously hard to the left and she fell. Zoro was able to stay standing. They heard Usopp's voice. He was completely freaking out.

"HOLY SHIT, THE STORM'S HIT US, WE'RE DOOMED, WE'RE GONNA DIE, SOMEBODY HELP UUUUUSS!"

Nami and Zoro looked at each other. "We better go up to see what we can do to help," he said grimly. Nami shook her head. "No, you stay here! Someone needs to stay down here and make sure everything is all right! Call Luffy if there are any big breaches in the hull!"

"Why me?" he called after her as she ran out.

"Because you're the great Zoro!" she called back. "You can do anything!"

He watched as she ran out and scrambled up the ladder. "I hate that psycho-bitch," he muttered angrily.

* * *

The torrential rain was making it very hard for the Straw Hat Pirates to see anything or stay standing. Lightning flashed everywhere.

"Shit!" Sanji shouted over the noise. "If that lightning hits us, we're screwed!"

Nami appeared. "Sanji's right!" she yelled. "What can we do to stop it?"

Usopp rubbed his chin. "Uh, do we have a lightning rod or something?" Sanji snapped his fingers. "That's _it_!" he yelled as an idea came to him. He ran into the kitchen.

Another big wave hit the side of the ship. Nami screamed and almost fell again, but Luffy caught her. "Thanks," she mumbled. No one heard her over the noise. He let go.

"How come no one catches me when _I'm_ falling?" Usopp whined from the floor of the deck. He got up.

Suddenly, forked lightning came down right next to the Going Merry. Part of the railing on the port side was blown to pieces. "No... my ship..." Luffy muttered angrily. Just then, Sanji came running back out. He was holding a large metal broom handle.

"The biggest metal rod I can find!" he yelled. He gave it to Luffy. "Hold this up as high as you can!"

Luffy takes it and does so. "Uh, why am I do-" He's interrupted by a bolt of lightning hitting the metal rod he was holding. It didn't seem to hurt him, but he got _very_ angry at Sanji.

'WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?" "I-I'm sorry... I didn't think it would hurt you..." "NOT ME, YOU ASSHOLE! MY HAT! THE LIGHTNING COULD HAVE HURT MY HAT!" "Oops..."

Luffy pulled his arm back and was about to punch his cook, but Nami grabbed his arm. "No, Luffy! This is no time to be fighting!" "Fine," he muttered. He gave his hat to Nami and stuck the pole down the back of his shirt. Another bolt of lightning hit him. Nami gasped. His skin looked charred and his hair stood up on end, but he was perfectly fine.

"Our rubber boy here can be our lightning rod!" Sanji yelled.

"I hope he'll be okay..." Nami whispered. No one heard her, of course.

More waves hit the ship. It rocked dangerously hard to the right. Everyone tensed up, expecting the ship to capsize, but it didn't. It stayed up somehow. Luffy whistled. "Luuucky!"

Then, a huge wave came towards them on the starboard side. It was big enough to submerge the entire ship.

"What are we going to do?" Nami screamed. Usopp yelled in terror and ducked low, covering his head. Sanji just watched, eyes wide in terror. Luffy, however, took action.

"GOMU GOMU NO..."

He jumped up into the air, stretched one arm and leg to the very front of the ship and the other arm and leg to the very back of the ship. He stretched out his body as much as he could. In result, Luffy's body became a huge wall blocking the entire right side of the Going Merry.

"...BARRIER!"

The wave crashed against his outstretched body. He yelled from the strain. Everyone winced, not able to imagine what the pain must have been like. Some of the water toppled over Luffy and onto the ship, but a vast majority of the wave was deflected. Luffy returned to normal size and knelt down beside his crew, out of breath. Nami rested a hand on his soaked shoulder. "Luffy, are you-"

"NO!" Sanji screamed and he yanked Nami's hand off Luffy's shoulder... right when another bolt of lightning hit him.

Luffy didn't get up from his kneeling position. Nami was worried. "Luffy, are you all right? Did that wave hurt you?" Luffy looked up at her. His face was blue and his teeth were chattering like crazy.

"N-no! It d-didn't hurt! B-but the water is r-really cold!" Everyone fell anime-style.

The wind really picked up. The ship started to lean on its port side. Usopp yelled when he saw a wave coming from the starboard side. "We're gonna capsize!" he cried, tears streaming down his face. No one could do anything about it; the wave hit the side of the Going Merry. The ship nearly went vertical. They all had to grab onto something to keep from sliding off the ship. Suddenly, they heard a scream. All the other way on the other end of the ship, Vivi went flying... right through the opening the lightning made in the port-side railing.

**Wow... this chapter has to be among the worst of my works EVER. The storm situation was pretty damn unrealistic, and the writing itself was poor. Oh, well. I personally found it hilarious that Luffy was made into a walking lightning rod. I'm guessing electricity wouldn't hurt him since he's rubber and everything. Whatever. Please keep up the reviews!**


	5. The Straw Hats in Trouble

Chapter 4 – The Straw Hats in Trouble

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. The wave hit, and Vivi went flying off the ship.

"NOOOO, VIVI-CHAN!" Sanji screamed.

Nami and Usopp were simply speechless, both in shock at what they just witnessed.

Once again, Luffy is the one who took action. He pounced to the opening in the portside railing. The others ran up to him.

"Wait, if you fall in-!"

"I don't care!" Luffy said. "Just try to make sure I don't fall in, okay?"

He looked down over the railing. The water was extremely violent. It was impossible to spot Vivi. Suddenly, he saw her head. "HELP, SOMEONE, PLEASE!" Her head was submerged by a bunch of waves.

Luffy stretched his arms down into the water. He couldn't grab Vivi. At that moment, a big wave chose a really bad time to hit the starboard side of the ship.

Luffy fell.

Nami and Sanji grabbed his feet. They started pulling. Usopp got in front of them, grabbed both legs, and started pulling as hard as he could. The three slipped and slid on the soaked deck, but they didn't let go.

Luffy's head kept going in and out of the water. It was very hard for him to breathe. He could have easily stretched his way back up to the deck, but he had to find Vivi. He couldn't let her mission be ruined. She had to restore peace to her island, and Luffy would see to it that she succeeded. Another large wave hit the port side... right where Luffy was hanging. Nami, Sanji, and Usopp were able to stay standing, and Luffy was okay. In the wave's wake, Luffy saw Vivi's head break the surface again. She quickly gasped for air before she was submerged again.

However, Luffy kept his sight on his target and stretched out his arms. He felt something solid and he wrapped his arms around it.

Sure enough, it was Vivi. She clung onto Luffy for dear life.

The others slipped a little. Luffy's entire torso was submerged, bringing Vivi down with him. Luffy struggled to get his head above the surface. He yelled up, "Here I come!" and with that, he pulled him and Vivi up with his legs.

They collapsed onto the floor of the deck, still clinging on to each other tightly, completely out of breath.

The moment didn't last long. Luffy slowly got up and coughed up some water. Then, a bolt of lightning hit Nami's mini tangerine orchard. It was destroyed.

"NO!" she cried.

Luffy looked behind him. "Oh, no! The metal thingy must've fallen off in the water! Sorry, Nami..."

Suddenly, it stopped raining. The wind died down. In just a few minutes, only a few clouds were left in the sky. The Grand Line's climate once again made a dramatic change.

The storm was over.

However, their problems weren't. Zoro came running onto the deck. He was sweating and completely out of breath. Nami frowned. (What's _he_ so worn out from?)

"Guys! We've taken on too much water! Come down and take a look if you want to, but we better find a place to stop, and _quick_!"

Everyone rushed down below, except Vivi. She still hadn't gotten up. Luffy stopped and walked back to her. Not knowing what else to do, he picked her up and rushed down to meet the others with her in his arms.

The water in the bottom part of the ship was waist-high, and still rising.

"There was nothing I could do," said Zoro. "I was busy pushing the ship to prevent it from capsizing. Every time I felt the ship tilt to one side, I would push it the opposite direction."

Nami couldn't believe her ears. "You mean... _you're_ the reason we didn't capsize? All by yourself?"

Zoro shrugged. "Yeah," he replied nonchalantly. He grinned. "After all, I _am _the great Zoro."

Nami stuck her tongue out at him. She turned to the others. "Let's go take a look at our options." The crew rushed back onto the deck.

Nami looked at the Eternal Pose pointing to Arabasta. "Well, we're way off course from Arabasta..."

"Hey, I found an island!" Usopp called.

"Already?" said Sanji. "That was quick..." He took the binoculars and looked in the direction Usopp was pointing. The cook slowly shook his head. "You know what? We must be the luckiest bastards in the world... There _is_ an island there."

Nami grinned. She looked at Luffy, who was still holding Vivi. She put his soaked straw hat on his head and said, "Luffy, take her to the girls' bedroom, okay? Make sure she's okay. I have to stay up here and do my job."

Sanji's eyes were hearts. "Ah, Nami-san, my dear, you're so smart and responsible! You're the smartest- and most beautiful- navigator in the world!" Nami nodded. "Thanks, Sanji-kun." She looked at Usopp and Zoro. "You two go down and steer the ship hard to port. I'll make sure we stay on course..."

* * *

Luffy carried Vivi to her and Nami's room. He placed her on the bed. He looked at her for a few moments, not knowing what he should do. He decided to just leave and let her rest. He turned around. Right when he was about to walk out, he heard her cough. He turned back around and walked to the bedside.

Vivi sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and coughed up some water. Luffy sat beside her and patted her back to help her cough it all out. All it really did was make her back sore, but she didn't care. She stopped coughing and smiled at Luffy. He stopped patting her back.

"So," said Luffy, "you're all right... right?" He grinned.

She smiled back. "Yeah, I'm okay, thanks to you." She hugged him. "You saved my life again, you know. I don't know how to thank you!"

He chuckled and hugged her back. "Heh, no need to thank me. What else was I supposed to do? You still gotta save your island, right? We can't let anything stop you from getting there!"

She broke the hug and looked into his eyes. "Luffy... what would I ever do without you? You really care about my kingdom's well-being, don't you?"

He gave another huge grin. "Of course! A huge civil war like that would be awful! Fighting's cool and all, but not when it's not needed, and not when so many innocent people could get hurt."

Vivi was actually a bit surprised at how much of the impending crisis Luffy understood. She smiled again and raised her hand to his face. She stroked it.

"Luffy... you're the best, you know that?"

Luffy didn't respond. She felt him tense up. (Is he nervous?) she thought. (I guess... now is the time to find out...) She leaned her face closer to his...

Their lips connected in a gentle kiss. However, Luffy still didn't respond. Like the rest of his body, his lips were completely stiff. Vivi turned her face away from him, suddenly very embarrassed.

(He... doesn't want this at all. Maybe he's still traumatized from the storm? Nah, he doesn't get scared like that...)

The very awkward moment was thankfully interrupted by Usopp calling Luffy's name. He wordlessly got up and started to leave. Vivi got up to follow.

"No," said Luffy suddenly without turning to look at her. "You need to stay and rest."

He left and closed the door behind him. Vivi, a little shocked at what just happened, slowly sat on the bed. She tried her hardest to stop it, but she dissolved into tears...

**Kinda sad, huh? Well, anyway, I think I am gonna tie in Chopper's introduction here. The crew does go onto a different island before Arabasta to find a doctor anyway, right? I am very close to the episode in which he is introduced, so when I see it, I will update more. Okay? Until then... enjoy life! I guess...**


	6. Chopper

Chapter 5 – Chopper

**In case the chapter name did not give it away, I have decided to include Chopper's introduction in this fic. I have switched the roles of Nami and Vivi: Vivi is the one who is sick. Also, I am going to skip the whole part that explains Chopper's past. We all know it. Okay, now on with the story!**

It was about 45 minutes after the kiss.

Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp were down below temporarily covering the holes to keep the Going Merry from taking on even more water.

Nami was standing outside the kitchen and leaning on the railing, looking out at the sea.

Sanji was in the kitchen cooking.

Vivi was still in the girls' bedroom. She suddenly did not feel well...

* * *

"Luffy, get out of here," Zoro said, frustrated. "The water level's too high, your legs keep getting paralyzed, you can't move, and you're getting in the goddamn way!"

"We know you want to help," Usopp offered kindly. "But... well... the curse of the Devil's Fruit can be a pain in the ass sometimes."

Luffy reluctantly nodded. With the help of the others, he got out of the deep part of the water and climbed up the ladder.

He wasn't able to decide what to do. He remembered something strange happened a little while ago... He couldn't remember what it was. He decided to go talk to Nami about it.

When he got up onto the deck, he found Nami in front of the kitchen. He looked up and smiled at her. She smiled back.

"GOMU GOMU NO ROCKET!"

He got up to where Nami was in a heartbeat. He stood right next to her and leaned against the railing like her. They stood together just silently looking at the sea for a while. Luffy was trying to remember that strange thing that happened to him...

Nami raised an eyebrow. (Why's he so quiet?) Suddenly, she involuntarily shivered. She noticed that the climate was getting a lot colder...

"It's getting chilly," Nami noted, breaking the silence. Luffy didn't respond for about a minute. Then he suddenly threw his arms around himself and started shivering. "Brrr, it sure is cold!" Nami sweat-dropped.

It got really cold really fast. Without thinking about what she was doing, she leaned against Luffy and snuggled up against his arm. Luffy didn't seem to notice. He was _still _thinking...

Suddenly, it came to him. "Nami," he said suddenly. "Something strange happened earlier." "Hm? Like what?" "Well..." He struggled to remember. "Well, remember when you told me to take Vivi to your room?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I did. I was about to leave, then she woke up. She said some stuff... like I saved her or something... She was saying thanks. I can't really remember."

"Okay... why are you telling me this?"

"Well, I don't know who else to talk to, everyone else is busy. Anyway, Vivi... hugged me. That's right! I remember! She hugged me."

"And _that_ was the weird thing?"

"No, it's what happened after that."

Nami suddenly stood up straight and looked at Luffy's face in surprise. It was contorted with concentration.

"She... did something weird."

"Oh, is that so?" Nami said as if doing "something weird" was exactly something she would expect from the princess.

"Yeah..." Luffy said slowly. "She-"

He was interrupted by Sanji's yell. "That came from my room!" Nami said urgently. "Something must be wrong with Vivi. Let's go!"

* * *

Sanji was found staring at Vivi's still body in horror.

She was lying on the bed. Her eyes were closed tight. Her breathing was very shallow and very fast. She was red in the face. Nami put a hand on her forehead. She quickly withdrew it. "She's... burning up...!"

"Oooh, my Vivi-chan is sick!" wailed Sanji. "Will she be all right, Nami-san?"

"At the rate this fever is going... no. There's a chance she might die...!"

"Oh, no!" Luffy gasped. "We need a doctor!" "We better hope the island we're approaching has a doctor," Nami replied grimly. "Otherwise... she will die, I'm sure of it."

Tears were streaming down Sanji's face. He got serious again soon enough. "All right, Nami-san; you stay here with Vivi-chan. Luffy and I are gonna go above and see what we can do about getting to that island faster!"

"Don't forget to bring coats..." Nami advised. "It's gotten really cold outside."

Sanji growled. "This shitty ocean's crazy weather is always screwing with us!"

* * *

Usopp and Zoro had already done as much as they could to help the Going Merry before reaching an island and doing proper repairs, so they joined Luffy and Sanji out on deck.

"What the hell are you all worked up about _now_, love cook?" Zoro asked in the usual manner he used when talking to Sanji. Sanji glared at the swordsman as his usual response. "My sweet Vivi-chan is dying, cabbage head," he replied angrily.

"What!" Usopp exclaimed in despair. "After all we've done to help her?" "I know," Luffy pouted. "I saved her from the water, and now she has to go and get sick! It's not fair..." "That's what's wrong with her?" Usopp asked. "She's just sick?"

Sanji glared at Usopp, too. "_Just_ sick? Yeah, she's _just_ sick," he replied sarcastically. "I mean, she _just_ has a fever that gives you second-degree _burns_ when you touch her forehead!" "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Usopp replied defensively.

"So, what are we gonna do about it?" Zoro asked. "Pray there's a doctor at the next island," Luffy declared. His answer was 100 serious as if it was the best course of action in the world they could take. Unfortunately, it was the _only _course of action in the world they could take.

* * *

It took them an agonizingly long 20 minutes to reach the island and dock the damaged Going Merry. Nami came up onto the deck with Vivi in her arms, completely wrapped up in blankets with just her red face uncovered. Nami was obviously struggling with the load. Luffy immediately relieved the strain by taking Vivi in his own arms. Nami grinned awkwardly. "Thanks."

She caught herself feeling almost jealous. She vigorously fought off that emotion. (Vivi is dying, and I am getting jealous because she is in Luffy's arms! I'm such a horrible person...)

"Um, guys," Usopp said slowly. "We've got company."

Waiting for the Straw Hat Crew at the bottom of the ship's ladder was a large group of villagers led by a very large man. When the crew climbed down, Luffy taking extra care not to jar Vivi on the way down, the large man spoke up.

"What do you _pirates _want with us? If you think you're going to take over Drum Island, you are sadly mistaken!"

"Please," said Luffy imploringly. "Our nakama is dying. We've got to see a doctor right away!"

The man looked intently into the unlikely pirate captain's pleading eyes. He determined that the boy was being 100 truthful.

"Fine, we'll see what we can do," the man said. "Follow me to the village." "Are you sure you we can trust these _pirates_, Dalton-san?" asked some of the villagers, glaring suspiciously at the Straw Hats. "Yes," the man named Dalton-san replied. "They're trying to save that sick girl's life. They mean us no harm." And with that, he and the villagers led the distraught pirate crew to their village.

The Straw Hats quickly gathered that all of Drum Island was covered with snow and ice. It was not a good climate for someone so horribly sick.

When they reached the village, Zoro mumbled something about getting the ship repaired and walked off. The rest of the crew went with Dalton-san to his house.

* * *

"WHAT?" Sanji exclaimed in disbelief. "There are _no_ doctors on this island?" The cook was absolutely incredulous. (This can't be happening! My poor Vivi-chan...!)

"I'm afraid it's true," said Dalton-san sadly. "We were once ruled by a cruel king named Wapol. When he was king, he took all the doctors on Drum Island and made them his personal doctors. His doctors were basically forbidden from taking care of anyone else. When Wapol left the island, we all knew he would come back. However, we received good news: the Marines shot down his pirate ship, killing everyone onboard." (A/N- I know that is not how the plot goes, but I see no point in going through that whole art with Wapol.)

"So then all your doctors are gone for good?" Nami asked despairingly.

"Well, all... except one." Dalton-san pointed to the huge, drum-shaped mountain near the center of the island. "On top of that mountain is Wapol's old castle. An old witch and her... creature live up there. She is the only doctor on this island."

"Well," said Luffy impatiently, "what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Sanji nodded. "Hai," he agreed.

Luffy looked down at Vivi. Her face was contorted in pain and her breathing was harsh. He gently patted her on the head. "We'll get you to a doctor soon, Vivi... and then we can bring you to Arabasta. I'll make sure of it."

To everyone's surprise, Vivi responded. She opened one eye to look at Luffy. She smiled. "I'm in your hands... Captain. I completely... trust you..." She closed her eye and slowly fell asleep again.

* * *

Usopp and Nami sighed. With Luffy and Sanji gone to save Vivi and Zoro gone to take care of the ship, they were left at Dalton-san's house to do nothing but just sit and wait.

"Are you sure they will be all right?" their host asked, breaking the silence.

Usopp solemnly nodded his head. "Those two are freakishly strong. They'll be just fine. Of course, they would do much better if the great Usopp was there..." Nami couldn't help but smile at Usopp. "He's right. They'll be fine... but Vivi might not. They may not be able to get her up there in time." "Man, I wish there was something we could do to help," Usopp whined.

They stayed quiet for a little while. Usopp suddenly stood up. "I can't take this anymore. I gotta do _something_. If I can't help Sanji and the captain, then I'll go and help Zoro." And with that declaration, he walked out into the bitter cold.

Nami sighed again and shook her head. "I should go, too. Even with Usopp there, it's likely Zoro will mess something up. All he cares about is sword-fighting; he can't do _anything_ else properly." She, too, stood up and left the house. Dalton-san followed her out. He sat in a chair in front of his house and watched Nami run off to find her nakama. He sighed. "I've never seen pirates like _them _before. It's hard to even _call_ them pirates..."

* * *

Luffy finally started to come to. He had no idea how long he was out for. He remembered rabbits... really big rabbits... They made an avalanche and Sanji got crushed. Luffy could still feel the pain in his hands from climbing up the sheer rock face of the mountain while carrying Vivi on his back and Sanji in his teeth. He remembered making it to the top and collapsing right when he saw the castle. He had no idea what happened after that... or how he wound up in this really comfortable bed...

He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He was in a nice, warm bed, and Sanji was in another bed right across the room from him. A majority of his entire torso was wrapped in bandages. His eyes were still closed.

"Psst! Hey, Sanji!" Luffy whispered loudly. No response. "Sanji. Sanji! PSST, Sanji!" He finally started stirring. Luffy sat up in his bed happily. "Hey, Sanji, you awake?"

"Mmmm... baka... I am now," the cook grumbled. He opened his eyes. "Where the hell are we?"

"I dunno," Luffy replied. "Hey, Sanji! I wanna talk to you about somethin'."

"Is now really the time?" Sanji grumbled. He slowly sat up.

"Yeah," Luffy replied. "It is. I might forget if I don't tell you now. I dunno why it popped into my head just now..." "Well, spit it out," said Sanji impatiently. He was keen to get out of bed and look for Vivi-chan.

"Well... I was gonna tell Nami, but something tells me that would be a really bad idea... Well, remember when I bought Vivi down to Nami's room to rest after the storm?" Sanji nodded. "Well... she did something weird. She kinda... touched my face, really softly. And she... she..." Luffy was struggling with the words. "She got real close and our lips touched... what the hell is that word...?"

"She KISSED you?" Sanji exclaimed. "A-Are you _serious_?" Sanji didn't know what to say at first. "Well... well, did you kiss her back?" (I can't believe I'm asking this! I don't want to hear about this...!)

Luffy shook his head. "Nah, I didn't move at all. Maybe that's why she turned her head away from me so fast like that... Was I supposed to respond somehow?"

It was a good thing Sanji wasn't standing up at that moment; as strong as they are, his legs would have given up on him. He wasn't even standing and his knees felt weak! (What an _idiot_...) "How could you do that to her? You broke her heart!"

Luffy gasped. "W-what? Is _that_ why she's dying? Can the doctor fix her heart? Oh, man... what have I done!"

Sanji sighed and shook his head. "You're hopeless... truly hopeless..."

The cook was having a silent debate with himself. (Should I help Luffy here? No way! Nami-san and Vivi-chan are mine! Especially Nami-san! I can't just let Luffy take them like that! Then again... if I think realistically, a relationship with either one of them is now impossible. I heard them both admit their feelings for Luffy! And it didn't sound like they were just throwing the idea around; they really meant it! Oh, man... should I help him? Well... we _are _nakama, and nakama always look out for each other... well, _almost_ always. Besides, Luffy can only have one! He'll choose the one he likes, and when the other one is heartbroken, I'll be the one to comfort her and cheer her up! Then she'll _surely_ fall in love with me! It's foolproof!)

"Okay, Luffy, I'm gonna help you," Sanji declared. Luffy's confused face lit up. "Really? Oh, Sanji, you're the best!"

"Don't get your hopes up yet," Sanji cautioned Luffy. "Remember, it will be harder than-"

He suddenly froze. A very strange creature walked in. It was holding what appeared to be crushed-up herbs. It was very short, about as tall as a toddler. It had light brown fur, pants but no shirt, a big, reddish hat, a blue nose, and what appeared to be reindeer antlers.

There was a long, awkward silence. None of them moved a muscle. Then, Luffy broke the silence.

"Meeeaaaat..." he said longingly. He was drooling like crazy.

A recipe for a good venison stew suddenly came to Sanji's mind. He, too, started looking at the reindeer-person hungrily.

Suddenly, the creature screamed. "Don't eat me!" it cried as it sprinted out of the room. It had the voice of a small human boy. Luffy and Sanji immediately gave chase. Luffy was trying to catch the reindeer-person and bite him. "MEAT!" he yelled over and over again.

"Luffy, stop!" Sanji yelled. "I have to cook it first!"

**And so, Luffy and Sanji continued to chase Chopper forever and ever and ever... or until the next chapter comes. Whichever is quicker. So, who is Luffy gonna choose? Did he not return Vivi's kiss because he was truly clueless, or was it just too awkward for him? Keep on reading to find out... and review!**


	7. Dilemma

Chapter 6 – Dilemma

**Well, you know how it goes. During the fight against Wapol and his men, Tony Tony Chopper realizes he is the Straw Hats' nakama and joins them. Well, that doesn't happen here since Wapol is already dead in this story. Luffy, Sanji, and Vivi convince Chopper that they need him with them and that they do not think he is a monster. With Dr. Kureha helping them to convince him, he finally decides to go, remembering what Dr. Hiluluk told him about pirates... And so, they prepare to leave Drum Island...**

**Yeah, I know it is a pathetic edit, but why should I elaborate? This is a love story, and shall remain as such. : )  
**

Luffy and Sanji helped Vivi get up and walk to the repaired Going Merry. They all stayed at Dalton's house for one night because repairing the Going Merry took so long, except for Chopper who stayed with Dr. Kureha for one last night. Chopper joined them in the morning, and they all prepared to go to sea again.

Vivi sighed happily and looked at the two gentlemen helping her to the ship. "Thanks so much, you two. You saved my life." She looked at Chopper. "And many thanks to you, too. You're the best doctor we could ever have!" Chopper was a bit embarrassed. He grinned. "Thanks."

Dalton-san, Kureha, and a majority of the villagers followed them to the ship. When they reached the ship, they all turned to face the people of Drum Island. "Thank you so much for your hospitality," Nami said gratefully. "Anytime," replied Dalton-san. Kureha cackled. "You pirates sure are something else... Oi, rubber kid. Make sure you take care of my Chopper, understand?" "Yosha!" Luffy said happily in response. "Bye, Doctorine!" cried Chopper with tears in his eyes. "I'll come and visit, I promise! I'll show you how great of a doctor I've become!" Kureha grinned. "I'll look forward to it," she muttered so no one heard her.

* * *

"Oi, someone wanna help me with this damn thing?" called Usopp from the little office room next to the kitchen. Luffy and Nami went to see what Usopp needed help with. 

The big bookcase that held all of Nami's informational books and maps had fallen. It didn't break, but it crushed the small table. Nami sighed as she looked at the books and maps strewn all about. "What a mess." Luffy grinned and walked over to Usopp. "Yeah, I'll help ya. We have to lift this big thing back up, right?" He indicated the fallen bookcase. "Yeah," Usopp confirmed. "Well, let's get to it!" said Luffy.

They each take a different end of the bookcase and heaved. Nami inwardly smiled. (Luffy could've done it single-handedly. Usopp's so funny...) When the bookcase was back up, Nami sighed again and put her hands on her hips. "Well, let's start cleaning this mess up. Hey, Sanji-kun!" she called sweetly. He seemed to appear out of thin air. "Yes, my sweet Nami-swan?" "Could you please go finish taking care of my orchard? I've planted the seeds already..." "Hai, Nami-san! Leave it to me!" He was gone just as quickly as he came.

Luffy, Usopp, and Nami started cleaning up the room. Or rather, Nami and Usopp cleaned up while Luffy picked some stuff up sometimes and tried to stay out of the way.

* * *

"Here is your medicine for today," Chopper said as he handed Vivi a couple pills. "Make sure you take them, okay?" "Thanks, I will," Vivi responded kindly. Chopper started to leave, and Vivi started to get up to get a glass of water, and that's when they heard Nami's shriek. They looked at each other and quickly ran to see what was wrong.

* * *

Everyone was in the room in a heartbeat, except for Zoro who was out napping in the sun as usual. Nami looked like she was going to cry. Luffy put a hand on her shoulder and kept telling her, "It's okay, it's okay, we'll be fine..." "What's wrong?" asked Sanji urgently, gardening shovel still in hand. Nami couldn't answer, so Usopp did. He pointed to small fragments of glass on the floor. "See that glass? That used to be the Eternal Log Pose for Arabasta... It got crushed by the bookcase during the storm..." 

Sanji's shovel fell from his limp hand and clanged as it hit the ground at his feet. Vivi fainted. Chopper, who was closest, quickly transformed and caught her. Sanji took her out of his arms and looked into her face. "NO!" he wailed. "The shock has made her faint!"

Well, needless to say, the crew got very panicky soon after. Everyone kept asking the same question: "How are we gonna get to Arabasta now?" Luffy was the least worried, next to Zoro who couldn't possibly have been worried at all since he was sound asleep. Luffy finally decided to make a speech.

"Okay, everyone, listen up! We're gonna keep on going! Nami will try her hardest to steer us in the right direction. We'll search the Grand Line and hope for the best!"

"Yeah," mumbled Sanji in agreement, "we _have_ been lucky bastards lately..." Everyone went to different parts of the ship. Luffy and Nami were left alone at the ship's bow.

"I don't know if I can do this, Luffy," Nami said worriedly. "I mean, I think I'm a good navigator and everything, but this is the Grand Line. I _need_ that Eternal Pose..."

"You don't need anything!" said Luffy cheerfully. "You only need your nakama, and we're all here! We'll support each other and find a way through this, just like always!" Nami gave him a weak smile. "Yeah... I guess you're right." "I'm gonna go eat something now," said Luffy, and he walked away.

"Wait!"

Luffy turned to see Nami running towards him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, startling him. "Thanks for believing in me like that. You're real sweet, Captain..." She ran off, and Luffy stared after her, rubbing the spot where she kissed him in puzzlement...

Sanji had watched the whole thing through the kitchen window. He groaned. "I forgot... I told Luffy I would help him... Guess I better talk to him tonight..."

* * *

Dinner was hectic as usual. Things didn't even slow down for the newcomer, Chopper. The reindeer man eventually learned that he needed to join in the fray to get any food. It was like survival of the fittest. He was able to use his small form to sneak food off the table while everyone fought, or he could turn huge and knock them out of his way. He generally liked the smaller form better. When dinner was over, everyone's thoughts were back on the dilemma at hand. They all grew grim again and stationed themselves at different parts of the ship.

* * *

It was pretty late. It was hard for Sanji to tell exactly what the time was. It didn't matter. Everyone on the ship was asleep, and that's what mattered. With a lot of effort, he dragged the sleeping Luffy off his hammock and out onto the deck. The night sky was clear and beautiful. The air was a bit crisp, but not so cold that one needed a jacket. Sanji sighed. (This is gonna be a long night...) 

He proceeded to kick the crap out of Luffy until he finally woke up. "Huh, what, where, when?" Luffy cried when he finally woke up. He rubbed his eyes and took in his surroundings. His eyes fell on Sanji and stayed there. Luffy wouldn't get up from his sitting position, so Sanji sat opposite him using a crate to support his back.

"So," Sanji started. They were silent for a minute. "Soooo..."

"So what?" asked Luffy. "Buttons?"

Sanji fell down anime-style.

"All right, Luffy, listen," said the cook exasperatedly. "Before we start, you're gonna have to stop being clueless, okay?" He sighed. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a long drag and slowly blew out the smoke. "Then again, I can't ask you to stop being yourself..." "Sanji," Luffy said earnestly, "I'll try hard to listen and learn, I promise." "Well, let's see if there's a point first," said Sanji. "Do you like Nami-san or Vivi-chan or both?"

"Well, of course I like them both," said Luffy matter-of-factly. "They're my nakama." Sanji sighed again. "No, Luffy. Do you _like_ them? How about this... Do you love them? Do you know what love _is_?" "Yeah, I think... That's when a guy and a girl like each other so much, they get married and get some kids, right?" "Yeah... that's one way to put it... Well, when Vivi kissed you, how did you feel?" "How did I feel? I didn't. I didn't feel anything." "Do you find yourself thinking about that moment a lot?" "Nope, almost never." (Good), thought Sanji. (That's one down... hopefully... You can never tell with this guy...) His somewhat triumphant thoughts were interrupted by the look on Luffy's face. He seemed so lost... (What could his problem be? He doesn't care about the kiss. What the hell is he so worked up about?)

"But..." Luffy suddenly started slowly, "I get this weird feeling with Nami now..."

Sanji's head snapped up and he stared at Luffy, who was staring at his feet. "Yeah, is that so? Explain."

"Well... I dunno... Since yesterday, whenever I go near her, my tummy starts feeling weird... My heart starts hurting my chest..."

(Butterflies in his stomach... raised blood pressure... Yep. It's Nami-san. Damn it! Why does it have to be Nami-san? Well, she'll be happy... and that's what matters, right? ...Right?) He resisted the urge to start crying. (Ooooh, my Nami-san... Luffy is so _lucky_...)

"Hellooooo? Sanji?"

Sanji was startled out of his reverie. "Yeah, sorry... Well, Captain, sounds like you like Nami." "Really?" said Luffy nervously. "Is that... a good thing?"

Sanji strongly resisted the urge to blurt out, "No! It's the worst possible thing in the world for you to take my Nami-san!"

"Y-y-yes, Luffy... It's very good... There's no point in holding it back from you... She likes you, too, buddy." Luffy's heart leapt. "Really? That's... that's GREAT! Wahooooo!" Luffy never felt such a feeling before. It was like he just defeated his strongest opponent ever. It was like eating the freshest meat in the world. It was pure ecstasy.

"But!" Sanji interrupted. "But... Vivi likes you, too." "Well, that's okay. I'll just tell her I like Nami instead of her! She'll understand!"

"NO!" Sanji yelled, startling both Luffy and himself. He calmed down as he took another long drag from his cigarette. "No, she won't. It's called breaking her heart, Luffy. And I don't mean that literally, like you thought I meant earlier. Here... Try to imagine that you married Nami, and you found out she got kids with someone else. How would you feel?"

It took Luffy a good while to answer. He eventually did. "Bad. Very bad." It was hard for him to imagine it, but he could tell he would be most unhappy...

"That's breaking a heart," Sanji said. "There's no pain quite like it. Many people have fallen victim to it. Well, anyway..."

They moved on with the conversation. Sanji taught him everything he could teach in two hours. He taught him how to treat ladies, how to talk to them, comfort them, offer help to them, how to react to certain actions... like kissing.

"And for heaven's sake, Luffy," Sanji was saying. "When a girl kisses you, kiss her back." "Uh, how?" "How? How? How can I explain is the question! Just... go with the flow. Use tongue if you think it's necessary..." "Tongue? What do you mean?" Luffy asked curiously. "You'll... find out," Sanji said, covering his ears in disgust. "Really, I don't want to talk to you about that..." Luffy ignored him. "Have you ever 'used tongue'?"

Sanji brightened up considerably at the question as memories flooded back to him. He actually ended up telling Luffy a few stories... until he realized what he was doing. He quickly shut up when he realized it. "Can't believe I was just telling you all that..." he mumbled. But Luffy had soaked up every single word. Whether Sanji meant to or not, Luffy learned a decent amount from his little stories.

About two hours later, Sanji stood up with a yawn and stretched. "Oookay, Luffy, time to go to sleep."

"Got it," said Luffy with a grin. "Thanks so much, Sanji."

As they walked backed to their room with their hammocks for long-awaited sleep, Luffy said one last thing that made Sanji want to kick him clear to next week. "I won't lie to you, Sanji. I've forgotten a good amount of what you told me." He ducked as Sanji tried to kick him in the side of the head. "But I will always remember one thing... go with the flow. I can handle that, since that's how I do everything else. I don't know why I thought this was any different." He sidestepped a follow-up snap kick to the ribs. "Thanks again, Sanji, you really did help me." "IT TOOK TWO HOURS FOR YOU TO LEARN THAT ONE THING? WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE I SAID!" "Don't worry, it'll probably come back in bits and pieces when I need them... when I'm going with the flow..."

**So what do you think so far? I have been reading a romance fic called "Nami's Dark Little Secret", and it blows this one out of the water. I almost wanted to stop because mine looked so _bad_ compared to that one. Well, my story line gets more interesting as they search for Arabasta, so I will just keep going and hope for the best. : )**


	8. A Broken Moment

Chapter 7 – A Broken Moment

**To my reviewer Enula: Useless rambling? What the hell are you talking about? That was one of the greatest reviews I have ever received! Thank you. You are right, and I will definitely go on with this story. : )**

Luffy awoke with a huge yawn. He smiled sleepily and looked around the room. He froze. No one was there. And something smelled really good...

"NO! They started breakfast without me!"

He jumped out of his hammock and started making a mad dash for the kitchen. "I can't believe I overslept! I've _never_ missed breakfast before...!"

Everyone was eating calmly for a change. Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper had no need to fight over food since Luffy wasn't there. It was always Luffy that started it, anyway. Nami and Vivi definitely liked the change, and Zoro was completely indifferent as he reluctantly ate Sanji's food.

And then, Luffy burst into the room. "GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!" He landed a solid punch on Sanji's face. The poor, unsuspecting cook went flying into a wall. If there was only one thing that got Luffy truly angry at his nakama, it was purposefully depriving him of food.

"HOW COULD YOU? YOU BETTER WAKE ME UP FROM NOW ON!"

"Maybe," Sanji growled, standing up and rubbing his jaw, "maybe, it wasn't my idea. Maybe it was someone else's..."

"Don't go blaming _me_!" yelled Nami suddenly. "_You're_ the one who decided not to wake him! I just said it would be kinda nice to have a quiet meal for once... That doesn't mean it was _my _idea!" Vivi nodded to confirm the truthfulness of Nami's statement, and Zoro sighed as he got up and left the table to train or nap; he hadn't quite decided yet.

"H-hey," said Sanji nervously. "Nami-san, I wasn't pointing any fingers... especially at you! I would _never _do such a thing to my sweet-" He was interrupted by Usopp's very loud outburst of uncontrollable laughter. "Oh, you think this is funny, do you?" Sanji growled threateningly. Usopp immediately stopped and cowered behind Luffy, who was still standing next to the doorway. "I-I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"

So, Luffy decided he would eat the rest of the food. No one had any objections. They didn't want him angry. (Besides), Nami thought, (it _was_ a bit unfair to do that to the poor guy...) Everyone got up to do different things. The only ones left in the kitchen were Nami, Luffy, and Sanji. Sanji silently washed dishes as Luffy stuffed his face without a word. Nami was watching him fondly. Sanji turned to look at her and then quickly turned his head back so she wouldn't notice him watching her. (She isn't even gonna help me here, like she usually does? Oooooh...)

Nami suddenly realized she was daydreaming as she watched Luffy. She snapped out of it. "Oh, dear, Sanji-kun! I'm sorry I haven't been helping you clean! I was... lost in thought." She hurried over to Sanji and started drying the dishes and putting them away.

"I understand, Nami-san," Sanji muttered after a minute of awkward silence. "I know... how you feel." She quickly turned her head towards and stared at him in surprise. "I heard you and Vivi-chan talking before the storm hit..." "What?" Nami said somewhat angrily, her cheeks going slightly red. "You were eavesdropping on us, Sanji-kun? Shame on you!" "No!" Sanji lied defensively. "I overheard you, that's all." "Yeah, I'm sure," Nami muttered sarcastically. She turned back to the dishes, still blushing. Luffy was still stuffing his face.

After another minute, Nami spoke up. "Well... do you know... how _he _feels?" "I'm not sure, Nami-san," said Sanji. It was half true and half false. He had pretty much figured out that Luffy had some feelings for her, but that guy was so sporadic, he could suddenly start liking Zoro instead, for all Sanji knew. He shuddered at the thought. (A/N- Yes, I hate yaoi pairings. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am a guy and I am straight. :P) "Well..." Nami whispered, "are you sure you have NO idea?"

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

Sanji and Nami nearly jumped out of their skin. Nami dropped a dish and it shattered, and Sanji instinctively tried to hit the person behind him with a powerful back kick. Luffy grabbed his foot. "Hey, whoa, calm down, I just wanna know what you're talking about." Nami blushed a deep red and started backing away from the two boys. "Um... nothing, Luffy. Really." And with that, she left the kitchen in a hurry.

Sanji spun and faced Luffy angrily. "What the hell do you _think_ we were talking about?" he hissed. "The _weather_?" Luffy shrugged. "Maybe. The weather _has_ been pretty crazy..."

Sanji stared at him in disbelief for a good few seconds, then sighed and turned away. "Why do I bother?" He took out a cigarette and lit it. "Go," he said calmly. "Go talk to her. She wants to know how you feel." "What should I say?" asked Luffy. "I don't _know_," Sanji replied impatiently. "It's your feelings, not mine." "Good point," Luffy laughed. He strode purposefully out of the kitchen. Sanji sighed yet again and started cleaning up the sizable mess Luffy's feeding frenzy left behind.

* * *

Luffy decided to ask the worst person possible first: Zoro.

"Hey, Zoro, where's Nami?" Zoro raised an eyebrow at him as he continued his one-hand pushups. "You're... kidding me... right?" he grunted in between pushups. "How... the hell... should I know? I'm not... her babysitter..." Luffy nodded and laughed. "Well, I thought you were the observant one! Some warrior _you _are." Zoro stopped and growled at Luffy dangerously. "What did you say!" he said angrily. "Nothing, nothing!" Luffy chanted as he danced out of Zoro's reach. He started running. "Yeah, you _better_ run!" the swordsman yelled at his fleeing captain's back. He shook his head and returned to his pushups. "Why the hell would he ask _me_ that?" he muttered in annoyance.

The next person was Usopp. "Sorry, Luffy, I don't know where she is," he said curiously.

Chopper knew, though. "I just saw her down in her bedroom with Vivi when I was giving Vivi her medicine." "Thanks, Reindeer!" Luffy called over his shoulder as he ran to go below deck. Chopper smiled.

* * *

"So..." said Nami quietly. "You're feeling better?" "Yeah..." said Vivi. "I want to thank you, Nami. You know as well as I do how hard our trip will be without the Eternal Pose, and yet you're still willing to navigate this ship and hope for the best. Thank you so much..." Nami gave her a wan smile. "Well, we made a promise to you, right?" Vivi nodded.

They were silent for a while. "Also..." said Vivi slowly, as if dreading what was coming next. "Luffy saved my life again. Mine _and _Sanji's. He struggled up that mountain..."

"I know how it went," said Nami shortly, and almost irritably.

"Well," Vivi continued. "I know we both have feelings for him... so I'm going to tell you straight out. I really want to stay friends with you, but I'm gonna try hard to win Luffy over." Nami smirked. "That's exactly what I was thinking about telling you..." "It's important we stay friends, though, no matter what." "Hm..."

And that's the exact moment Luffy decided to walk in the room. "Oi, Nami, there you are," he said with a grin. "Hi, Vivi," he said politely. Vivi waved at him and smiled. Nami looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You were looking for me? What's up?" "Yeah, came and talk to me!" "Okay." She followed Luffy out. She looked over her shoulder and gave Vivi an honestly confused expression. Vivi shrugged in response. She watched them leave.

"Please don't let it be what I think it's about..." she whispered.

* * *

"So, what's up?" said Nami. They were leaning on the starboard side railing. They were completely out of sight from everyone else who were busy doing random chores around the ship.

"Well, I think I have to tell you... about my feelings."

Nami's heart leapt. (His feelings?) "What about 'em?" she asked as calmly as she could, forcing the trembling out of her voice.

"Um, Sanji said it was important I tell you. In fact, he told me a lot of things! We had this really long talk last night, and..."

He struggled to remember what Sanji told him to do when "expressing his love for someone." He turned and silently took her hands in his. She couldn't help but gasp. (Is this... for real?) she thought in disbelief, blushing deeply.

"Nami... I... like you. A lot."

"So do I," she whispered, out of breath. "I mean, I like you, too." Luffy smiled. "Good."

He wouldn't let go of her hands. "So... what do we now?"

Nami burst our laughing. She threw her arms around her neck. "Holding me would be nice," she said, smiling. He hugged her back. Nami could feel his heart beating like crazy.

(Wow... what did Sanji _do _to him last night? Well, whatever he did... I'm happy for it...)

"LAND HO!" called Usopp excitedly. Nami and Luffy broke apart. They averted their eyes from each other's faces.

"We can talk more about this later," Nami whispered. She silently cursed Usopp. (Damn, the moment's been broken! Well, it can't be helped...) "Come on, let's go see what Usopp's talking about." Luffy nodded wordlessly and rushed off, leaving her behind. She stood there for a little while longer.

A smile slowly crept onto her face. She finally started jogging to join the others.

**Next chapter is gonna have some fighting in it. A mysterious young man challenges Luffy to a fight when they reach the unknown island... How will things turn up? You will find out soon enough! **


	9. Fighting For Those We Love

Chapter 8 – Fighting For Those We Love

Vivi took the binoculars from Usopp. She looked out at the island the Going Merry was approaching. "Nope," she said. "That's definitely not Arabasta."

Nami frowned. "Well, then, what island could it be?"

Vivi also frowned in concentration. "Let's see..." she said slowly, handing the binoculars to Luffy. "Hmmmm... I think I got it. I remember something about a small, rocky, desolate island near Arabasta." "Well, that island sure is rocky," noted Luffy, who handed the binoculars to Sanji. Vivi nodded. "Then that must be it." Nami's face lit up. "Wait; did you say _near_ Arabasta? That's great! Maybe my ordinary Pose can set itself to Arabasta from there!" "Hopefully, if you're right, it won't take, like, a year," Zoro muttered, who was now looking at the island through the binoculars. He handed them to Chopper. "Oh, cool!" said the little reindeer. "This will be the first island I've ever been on that isn't Drum Island!" He handed the binoculars to Nami who was the only one who hadn't got to take a look yet. She looked, handed them back to Usopp, and sighed. "Well, let's see what happens when we get there."

* * *

They docked the Going Merry at a small pier. There were no other ships in sight. "Hmmm..." said Usopp thoughtfully. "This island looks deserted..." "Deserted? What are you, stupid?" Zoro scoffed. "Didn't you see that little village through the binoculars? This place is not quite deserted." He put on a serious expression again. "There's just no welcoming party, that's all. And if you ask me, thinking about our previous experiences, that's a good thing." "Maybe, maybe not," said Nami calmly. "Let's go to the village. I remember what direction it's in..."

The island was pretty hot. There was a lot of sand, like a desert, but there were also a lot of fields of just sun-scorched rock. The only green they saw was from rough little fern bushes poking out between rocks here and there. Luffy gave a low whistle. "It would suck to live on this island." Vivi shrugged. "You can't say that for sure, Luffy-san," she said. "Looks can be deceiving, especially while on the Grand Line. This place could have a huge gold mine, or a huge supply of oil. The people here might be really rich." "By the looks of that village we saw, I'd have to say this isn't the case," Zoro disagreed. Vivi nodded. "Yeah, I didn't see any big or nice houses, but I'm just saying. Don't always take islands for face value, or _anything_ on the Grand Line, really."

They were mostly silent as they trudged through the rocky wasteland. Luffy sometimes complained about his hunger, and Usopp sometimes started whining about how he was going to die of dehydration, but other than that, they mostly stayed silent. Interestingly enough, Luffy and Nami kept their distance. In fact, Luffy walked with Vivi the whole way there. He and Nami knew that they needed to concentrate on the matter at hand, and the closer they got to each other, the more distracted they would become.

After about a half hour more of walking, they reached the gate of the village. It was a big, wooden gate and it was locked. Nami tugged at the door, but to no avail.

"Stand aside," Zoro said. He drew two of his swords and prepared to cut the door down...

"I wouldn't do that if _I_ were you."

The voice came from up above them. They all looked up.

Casually sitting on the top of the gate was a young man who appeared to be in his late teens. He had short, blue hair, a tan and weatherworn face, and his clothing was ridiculous. He wore a purple shirt, green pants, and a bright red superhero-type cape. Despite the absurd clothing, he was quite handsome. He smiled down at the girls. They smiled back at him a little shyly.

Sanji growled dangerously and Luffy raised an eyebrow with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. They were both jealous.

Zoro smirked at him. "Yeah? What are you going to do to me, burn my eyes out with your horribly colorful clothing?"

The teen's smile faded. He jumped down from the tall gate and nimbly landed right in front of Zoro. "No. I'll crush you."

Zoro drew his third sword and placed it in his teeth. "Care to repeat that?" he threatened as he got into a stance.

Nami grabbed Zoro's shoulder. "No! Don't kill him. There's no need yet. We don't know if he means us harm or not." Zoro raised an eyebrow at her. "You just like the pretty boy, don't you?" She blushed, and before she could respond, Luffy yelled out, "She does _not_!"

Everyone looked at Luffy. He sweat-dropped. "Uh... well... she doesn't." Nami shrugged. "He's got a point there."

The blue-hair teen laughed. It was a deep, hearty laugh. "My name is Marco," he said and he bowed with a flourish. "I am the Warrior of this village, and it is my duty to challenge any and all pirates or other kinds of fighters before they enter this village." He flashed a perfectly white smile at the girls. "But don't think of me as a bad guy." He sighed dramatically. "It is my burden to be one of the toughest fighters on the Grand Line."

Sanji was hating this kid more and more every second. "What the hell makes you think you're so tough? Just because you're the best fighter on this island _certainly_ does not make you the toughest on the Grand Line."

"Toughest?" Marco said, mocking being shocked. "Oh, I think not! You are forgetting the Seven! But besides them... yes, I am the toughest."

Nami smirked. She walked up to him and stroked his chin with her finger. "You may be very good-looking and very tough, but you're no match for the Straw Hats, honey."

He flashed her another smile. "Well, I guess I'll have to show you, my dear." He took her hand and kissed it. "I'll show you I'm truly the strongest."

Nami smiled. The only reason she allowed him to kiss her hand was...

"GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!"

The navigator quickly ducked, and Luffy's fist hit Marco square in the jaw. He went flying into the giant wooden fence behind him. He almost went through it.

Everyone looked at Luffy. He was absolutely seething with anger. "Don't... hit on my navigator... ever again!" Nami jumped into the air and cheered. "Yay! Get him, Luffy!" Usopp and Sanji grinned, Zoro smirked, Chopper just looked on in confusion, and Vivi bit her lip. (The bond those two share...) she thought desperately. (I'll never share the same bond with Luffy!)

Marco got up with ease. He lightly swept the dirt off his clothes. He barely looked hurt at all, which was amazing because he nearly went all the way through that extremely thick wooden gate. He grinned arrogantly at Luffy. "I guess you'll be my opponent, then."

"No, pretty boy, _I_ will be your opponent." Sanji stepped forward.

"NO!" yelled Luffy. "I want to-" "Forget it," Sanji interrupted him. "You got to hit him really hard. You've got your revenge. Now... it's my turn to make him pay for shamelessly hitting on Nami-san like that! Prepare to die, kid!"

Zoro sweat-dropped as the two got into fighting stances. "Isn't that what he does to Nami every waking minute of his life?" Vivi giggled in spite of her negative mood. "Yeah, you're right. Let's see how this turns out. Which lover boy is the best?" She giggled more. "Maybe they'll _both_ die," said Zoro hopefully. Vivi hit him hard in the back of the head. "Not funny."

Marco grinned. "Tell me, Mr..." "Sanji." "Mr. Sanji. Tell me, Mr. Sanji; do you like rocks?" "What kind of shitty question is that?" "Not too shitty if you ask me." And suddenly, two huge boulders came out of the ground on either side of Sanji and crushed him.

Everyone gasped. "SANJI!" Luffy screamed. The rocks fell apart of their own accord. Sanji fell to the ground, limp as a doll. Chopper ran up to him. "Sanji! Sanji!" he yelled. Sanji opened an eye. "You think... _that_ will finish me off?" He slowly got up, to Chopper's dismay. Chopper tried to pull him away from the battle, but Sanji just kicked him away. "Hold him back for me." He looked at Marco and grinned. "So... you're a Devil Fruit bastard."

Marco's smile was large and arrogant. "Yes. The Seki Seki Fruit. There's nothing you can do to beat me. That's why I should be fighting Straw Hat, not you." "Why do you fight, kid?" Sanji asked calmly, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "Well, for one, quit calling me kid. You're no older than I am!" "Whatever you say... kid. Now answer my question." "I fight because I'm the best. That's it. If any kind of fighter comes here, they are to be challenged by me, and they can't refuse. I am proving to the world that I am the best fighter. You think I've lived here my whole life? Ha! I go all around the world, stationing myself at troubled towns like this one. I've been here for a year protecting this town from the nasty pirates sailing the Grand Line. I'll be moving on in about a month. I am a hero, I get paid whenever I need to be by the people I protect, and I am slowly proving to the world that I am the best."

"Hm," grunted Zoro. "Just like me. I'm trying to become the greatest swordsman in the world. Being the best... It's a hard dream to follow, and if you can't even beat love cook here, you better give up now."

"Oh, I'll beat him." Marco smiled yet again at Sanji. "SEKI SEKI ARM!" Stone comes shooting out of the ground. They surround Marco's right arm and combine. His arm now has a huge shell of thick, solid rock. "WOAH, cool!" Luffy exclaimed.

Sanji decided to go straight for the kill. (You can never be too careful when fighting bastards with Devil's Fruit abilities...) He charged at him. "COLLAR SHOOT!" He aimed a very powerful kick right at Marco's throat...

A giant sheet of rock shot up from the ground right in front of Marco. Sanji's kick shattered it, but it stopped him from reaching his throat. Normally, the shattered rock would fly in all sorts of directions, but instead, all the little rocks fell back onto Sanji. He instinctively threw his arms up to protect his face from the sharp little rocks. Marco saw his opportunity and took it. He drew his stone arm back, and punched Sanji hard in the midsection of his torso. The fist was so big, it effectively knocked the wind out of Sanji _and _broke a number of his ribs with a sickening crack!

"SANJI!" Chopper positively screamed in horror. "His bones weren't even fully mended yet! I _knew_ I should've stopped this...!"

Marco looked down at the cook. He seemed to have genuine regret in his face. "You were injured, huh? That's a shame... I feel bad now... But a battle is a battle, and I have to finish them all." He raised his huge stone fist, preparing slam it down on Sanji...

"GOMU GOMU NO-"

WHACK.

Nami jumped at Marco, unfolded her collapsible bo, and hit him hard on the side of the head. The only sound he made was a small grunt of pain before he hit the ground. Luffy's fist was halfway to hitting Marco when he stopped the punch in order to not hit Nami. His fist stayed suspended in midair like that for a couple moments before he finally drew his arm back in. "Nami," he complained, "why'd you do that? I was about to send him flying, and I almost hit _you_ instead!" She grinned sheepishly in response. "Sorry, Captain, I couldn't help myself." "I forgive you," said Usopp serenely. Luffy hit him. "_I'm_ the captain, not you!"

A huge rock in the shape of hand suddenly sprung from the ground behind Nami and grabbed her. She screamed and struggled, but to no avail.

Marco slowly got up. "NAMI!" Luffy screeched. "Release her, NOW!" Marco smirked. "She almost got me there. Then again, my body _is_ fortified with stone... I'm nearly indestructible!" He laughed. "Captain Luffy, I wanted to fight you in the first place. An all out battle is what I seek. So, I decided to make things more interesting." He looked at the struggling Nami with an amused expression on his face. "Whoever wins gets to keep this lovely young lady..." "KEEP?" Luffy yelled. "Nami is not a prize you get to win! She is my nakama, my navigator, and I lo-" He stopped himself there. He didn't know why; his instinct told him to stop. "But fine, if this the only way I can get her back safely, prepare to get the shit beaten out of you!"

He stretched his arms behind his back extremely far. "GOMU GOMU NO..." Marco dug his feet into the ground to brace himself. "...BAZOOKA!" He raised his stone arm to intercept the blow. The ground all around them shook with the impact. The stone surrounding Marco's arm received very deep cracks. He looked at it in horror and amazement. "How did this happen? The stone I make from the planet's crust is one of the strongest substances in the world!" "Not anymore," Luffy responded, flexing his right arm. "Oh, I'll show you!" Suddenly, a huge chunk of rock shot up beneath Marco's feet. It launched him into the air and the stone that launched him followed him up into the sky. The rock started forming a tight circle around him. "SEKI SEKI METERORITE!" he cried before his face was covered. The sphere of rock did indeed represent a meteorite and it was falling extremely fast. It was headed straight for Luffy. He was able to avoid the attack. The rock shattered when it hit the ground. All the pieces followed Luffy. "GOMU GOMU NO BALLOON!" They bounced off his puffed-up body easily.

"Help...!" cried Nami all of a sudden. "This thing is starting to hurt me..." She struggled more in the makeshift hand, but it was still useless. "I'm coming, Nami!" called Luffy anxiously. Marco raised his stone arm and rocks started coming out of the ground to repair it. "GOMU GOMU NO GATLING GUN!" The repeated punches were hard for Marco to avoid. "SEKI SEKI DOME!" What could only be described as a huge dome made of stone sprung out of the ground and completely hid Marco. The punches kept on going, though. Luffy eventually broke a huge hole in the dome and kept throwing wild Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun punches at his opponent through the hole. A few of them connect. The dome seemed to fade back into the ground after Luffy's attack was over. Marco was not happy. "That's it... SEKI SEKI FULL BODY ARMOR!"

Stone popped out of the ground all over the place. They formed around their caller. He was wearing a full suit of rock armor, the same kind that he had only on his arm moments earlier. The only part of him that wasn't covered was his head. He actually looked kind of funny with a small head perched on a huge stone body that was more than 3 times bigger than his original body. He attacked Luffy head on.

They fought for a good 10 minutes. Both were worn out, but Luffy was cut up and bruised whereas Marco was barely hurt. "I'm getting sick of this!" Marco declared. "SEKI SEKI DEATH TRAP!" He pounded the ground with one of his massive fists. The ground behind Luffy seemed to cave in all on its own. Luffy almost fell into it. He looked down at the bottom of the pit. The bottom was covered with a layer of extremely jagged and deadly-looking rock. Marco shot rocks at him to make him stumble down the pit. It almost worked. His feet slipped... but he shot out a hand and grabbed Marco's huge stone shoulder for support. He shook the hand off of him. The other hand grabbed onto a shoulder, but this time he dug his fingers into the stone. "What the-?" The other hand dug into his other shoulder. Luffy then unhooked his feet from the edge of the pit and was sent flying towards a horrified Marco.

"GOMU GOMU NO BELL!"

BAM. Even though Marco's body was nearly invincible, Luffy shattered his nose. Blood flew everywhere. Everyone cheered.

But the pissed-off Luffy wasn't done yet.

He wrenched one of his hands out of the stone armor and kept the other one latched on. He drew that arm back... and punched Marco's armor as hard as he could, dead center.

The special stone shattered.

Marco collapsed onto his knees. He started coughing up blood. He groaned and fell down all the way, clutching his chest. Chopper gasped. (That blow shattered his ribs... and it even ruptured a lung... And his body was supposed to be nearly invincible! Amazing...)

Luffy still wasn't done. He was very angry. He drew his foot back...

"NO! Luffy, stop!"

Luffy froze and looked at Nami. He slowly put his foot down. "Oi," he said softly. "Release the girl." Marco didn't show any signs of acknowledgment, but the stone hand suddenly fell apart. Nami collapsed onto her knees, too, and coughed. Luffy noted there was no blood, though... Thank God...

Chopper ran to examine Nami, and everyone except Sanji and Zoro followed him. Sanji was too hurt to move, and Zoro walked over to check the boy's pulse. He looked at Sanji. "He's dead... No pulse, and he's turning cold already... Happy?"

**I know the battle seemed a little pointless, but I hope you all understand the significance of it. Anyway, I am really tired, so I stop here for now. Until next time!**


	10. Together At Last?

Chapter 9 – Together At Last? 

**There seemed to be a little confusion as to who died last chapter. I read the ending, and I _did_ word it a little awkwardly. It was Marco who died, not Sanji. **

The Straw Hats buried Marco. They took him to the middle of the desert and buried him beneath the heavy shade of a cliff face where the sand was very cool and soft.

Surprisingly enough, it was Luffy's idea. "After all," he had said sadly after his rage had subsided, "he was just trying to follow his dream..." The others, naturally, didn't like the idea, especially Sanji and Nami. However, Zoro eventually took Luffy's side. "Look," he had said. "The boy was just trying to be the best he could be. I... even though he attacked us... I feel bad. He just wanted to be the best... like I do... And besides, Luffy is our captain and we do as he says. Got it?" The others had thought it was very interesting that Zoro had had a somewhat emotional moment, and they had not wanted to ruin it.

After they were done, they argued about what to do. "We should just stay on the ship and wait for the Log to set," said Usopp firmly, folding his arms as if his word was final. "No!" argued Nami. "I'd like to find out how _long_ that would take! And besides, we need supplies. Right, Sanji-kun?" "Aaaah, yes, Nami-san, correct as usual!" Sanji crooned from Chopper's shoulder. Sanji was too badly hurt to move in Chopper's opinion, so he had transformed into the big, muscular reindeer-man and slung the injured cook over his shoulder to carry him around. Chopper shook his head. "So what do we do? Just go into the village? We just killed their Warrior; they won't be very happy with us..." "Oh, come on, we can make shit up," said Zoro dismissively. "They don't have to know he died." "But it's gonna be hard to convince them otherwise!" Chopper pushed his point. "I think we should do what Luffy-san says," Vivi piped up. "He _is_ the captain." Everyone went silent and stared at Vivi, and then turned their gaze on Luffy. He took off his hat and scratched the top of his head. "Uh, I dunno," he said, placing the hat back on his head. "Do whatever Nami says." That answer surprised everyone, except Sanji, who pretended to be surprised so no one would suspect he knew anything about what was going on between their captain and their navigator. After the feeling of surprise subsided, Chopper and Usopp grumbled, Zoro smirked, and Sanji smiled dreamily at Nami, who had a victorious smile on her face.

They all walked back to the gate. A group of curious and very confused villagers were looking at the huge dent in their giant wooden fence surrounding their village. They looked up at the Straw Hats.

"Hey," one said suspiciously. "Do you have anything to do with this?" "Nope," Usopp replied right away. His face and tone of voice didn't even come close to giving anything away. "Well, did you see what happened?" "Yeah..." replied Usopp thoughtfully. "A strange kid with blue hair got really pissed off and threw a giant rock at the fence... He told us that he was leaving, and he stormed off. We haven't seen him since."

Usopp had them completely convinced. "Yeah, he _does _have a horrible temper," the villagers were muttering amongst themselves. The first man looked back at them. "So, what do you want?" "We came looking for supplies and a little info," Usopp answered truthfully. "Okay... Who are you?" "We're _pi-_" Luffy began, but Nami quickly covered his mouth with the palm of her hand. She laughed sheepishly. "Sorry... he has these outbursts..." Nami mumbled embarrassedly. Usopp went right with it. "Yeah... it's kinda sad, really..." Some of the villagers looked sympathetic. "Well... did Marco say when he was going to be back?" "Marco? Was that his name?" Usopp said curiously. "No, he didn't say... but I would guess not for a long time by the way he stormed off." "Any idea why he was so pissed?" "Something about a deadline?" said Usopp as if struggling to remember. The villagers looked at each other ominously, as if they had expected this to happen... It was obvious that they suspected absolutely nothing. "So... can you let us in?" asked Vivi sweetly. The man stayed silent for a moment, and then turned to converse with his fellows. While they huddled together and quietly discussed their decision, Luffy proudly whispered, "That's our liar!" "Sharpshooter!" Usopp hissed back at Luffy. "I'm the _sharpshooter_, not the liar!"

The man promptly turned back to the Straw Hats with a welcoming smile on his face. "Okay, come on in." He and a couple others opened the gate, and he led the guests into the village.

It was a small, modest town. It was nice and quiet. Everything was slightly dusty from the rock and sand. Some people stared at the odd assortment of characters; some smiled and waved. Even though the village was perfectly safe, Luffy walked close to Nami. He was determined to make sure nothing else happened to her. She was flattered by his sudden extra protectiveness. When no one was looking, he gave her an adoring smile, and her return smile was also filled with love. (I can't wait...) Nami thought happily. (We're going to be together... It's a dream come true...! I wonder how the others would react? Well, let's see... Usopp would probably be happy for us... good ol' Usopp. Sanji would be jealous, even though he completely knows about it and is prepared for it. Zoro wouldn't care. If anything, it would make him even _more _irritable. Chopper would either be happy for us or not even get it at all. And Vivi...) Her thoughts stopped there. She didn't want to have to think about Vivi's reaction. She would just deal with it when it came.

* * *

They got supplies while staying there. To her enormous relief, Nami found out that the Log would be set in Arabasta's direction by morning. They all wanted to stay at the hotel situated in the middle of town, but Chopper pointed out that they were pushing their luck, and he needed to get Sanji to the ship to give him proper treatment, anyway. Everyone grumbled their agreement, and by evening, they had reached the Going Merry.

They unpacked everything. They then got settled in for dinner.

"No!" said Chopper firmly. "I... I forbid it! You are in no condition to cook." "No," said Zoro, "he's in no condition to fight at the dinner table like usual." "Zoro's right, but you're wrong, Chopper," said Sanji. "I'm quite used to working with injuries. I was brought up by the pirate Red Shoes Zeff. He would kick the shit out of me for whatever reason and then expect me to do work. A lot of that work included cooking, so trust me; I can more than manage with just a few broken ribs." The poor little doctor stared at his almost-patient in silent horror as he walked out to cook for the crew.

Dinner was wonderful as usual, despite Sanji's injuries. He wasn't kidding; living with Zeff had taught him well. Before the dinner started, Chopper took a plate of food and showed it to his captain.

"You see this?" said Chopper. "This is Sanji's food. Please do not touch it, okay? He needs to eat, and he can't be fighting over food like usual... Actually, it would be best if he ate somewhere else..."

"DON'T push your luck, you shitty reindeer," grumbled Sanji. "You're lucky enough I'm letting you treat me at all... If we didn't have a doctor, I would just ignore my injuries, like I usually do..." "Oh, but Sanji-kun," gasped Nami. "Why should you have to go through such _pain_?" Sanji's eyes became hearts instantly. "Oh, my dear, dear Nami-san! You care about me! You _care_!" "Yeah, yeah, don't get carried away," Nami said quickly. She glanced at Luffy, who started to look annoyed. She had to try very hard to conceal her smile.

Luffy smiled. "Okay, Sanji, I won't touch your food, I promise." "Yeah... until tomorrow morning, right?" Sanji retorted. Luffy simply shrugged. "No, until Chopper says you're okay." "And," added Chopper dangerously, "if you don't watch yourself, I'll release you from my care really early..." Sanji was cornered. He knew he needed Chopper's rules and restrictions in order to keep his ribs from breaking again until they could fully heal.

Vivi kept making furtive glances in Luffy's and Nami's directions. She was suspicious, and Nami knew it. (Man,) Nami thought, (I really can't wait until I get to talk to Luffy privately... I need to make sure there's absolutely nothing going on between the two of them. I highly doubt it, but it's better to be safe than sorry, I suppose...)

Nami and Vivi were happy to do the dishes after dinner ended. Chopper insisted that Sanji go to bed early that night, so he convinced the cook that he would do the dishes while he slept. Sanji had no idea that the girls were going to do it, of course; he never would have allowed it.

There was a very awkward silence as Nami washed dishes and handed them to Vivi for drying and placing. That's why she was very grateful when she finally handed the princess the last fork. She left without a word, leaving Vivi to stare at her departing back.

* * *

They had a lot of fun that night despite the rising tension. They told jokes and stories, and after they got pretty drunk, they started a game of strip poker as Chopper watched on in disapproval. Drinking was bad for health no matter what, as far as the little doctor was concerned.

"Ha, I win again!" Sanji slurred triumphantly. "Vivi-chan, off with the shirt." She blushed while obliging. It was pretty shocking that she had gotten drunk, too, but she was also under a lot of stress, and people do crazy things to relieve stress sometimes. Zoro whistled at her when she revealed her pink, lacy bra. At this point, they were all missing several articles of clothing. The two closest to fully stripped were Sanji and Nami. Sanji only had his boxers and striped undershirt on; Nami only had her lingerie on. In fact, after the next round ended, Nami was about to take her bra off when she collapsed and started snoring. The game ended there. Everyone grumbled as they got up and swayed off to bed. Luffy picked up Nami, put her in her bed, and walked off to his hammock.

* * *

Nami opened her eyes. She felt the slight rocking of the docked Going Merry as she stared up at the dark ceiling. She grinned as she recollected how she acted drunk. She had been curious to see Luffy's reaction to her almost stripping. He had definitely seemed uncomfortable when he had picked her up to bring her to bed and she had slightly opened one eye to get a look at his face.

She smiled up at the ceiling. (I'll break him in soon enough.)

She could hear Vivi mumbling in her sleep. It was actually pretty loud, and Nami guessed it was from being drunk. Nami got up as she realized she wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. She didn't feel like putting on any clothes, so she just slipped on a really comfortable silk robe she had bought from a shop in the village. She looked at the sleeping Vivi before leaving the room and taking a walk out onto the deck.

The night air was perfect. There was a slight breeze to ease the heat from the island's somewhat harsh climate. She leaned on the ship's railing and looked out at the sea. She realized she had been doing that a lot lately. She concluded that it was very relaxing and everyone needed some relaxing during such stressful times.

The breeze picked up a bit and blew her hair back a little. It felt so good on her face. She smiled serenely and gave a happy little sigh. She was thinking about Luffy again. He did his very best to protect her again earlier that day. She especially liked the part where Luffy had yelled at Marco for putting her up as a prize for their fight. He absolutely hated it when others didn't treat her like a person. It was another one of those endearing qualities Luffy had that made Nami want him so much.

As if right on queue, she heard another person walk onto the deck. The footsteps were slow and came to a halt behind her.

"Nami?" Luffy said tentatively.

Nami was surprised to see him so sober. Perhaps he had been pretending, too. (It's always so impossible to tell with this guy...) Nami thought fondly. "Hi, Luffy," she said warmly. "You can't sleep either?" "Nope." "Hmmm..." she said thoughtfully as she turned back to the ocean.

Nami stretched one of her arms out invitingly. "Come here, Luffy. Come watch with me." He obliged. He walked over to her and allowed her to wrap an arm around him. He greatly enjoyed the feeling. He wrapped an arm around her in return. "Watch what?" he asked curiously. She sighed and placed her head on his shoulder. "Just the ocean... It's so calm and peaceful... pretty romantic, too..."

Luffy was staring blankly at the ocean. "Hey, Nami? Do you really think I'll ever find One Piece?"

She was _very_ surprised to hear him ask this question. (Why is he asking me this? He's always had the utmost confidence in himself! He's never doubted that he's going to be Pirate King before...) "Why, of course, Luffy! That's really an absurd question coming from you." Luffy smiled. "I know it sounded ridiculous, but it was really important to me that you answered anyway. Don't ask me why; I don't know. I'm just... going with the flow, I guess..."

Nami turned to face her captain. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her around the middle. He was so pale... "Don't be nervous," she whispered. She pressed a finger against his lips. He involuntarily trembled. "You're just going with the flow, aren't you? No need to be so nervous..." He finally was able to crack a grin. He gave her that huge smile she had come to love so much. "Going with the flow... is really the best I can do. And Nami, I'm really glad you're my navigator." Her smile grew wider at the comment. "I would never find One Piece without you," Luffy finished, sounding truly grateful. "And I wouldn't be living in freedom right now without _you_," she whispered. "So the feeling's mutual."

Before Luffy could even ask what mutual meant, Nami pressed her lips against his. The kiss was very soft, and at first Luffy didn't respond, but when their lips came apart, he gently took a hold of Nami's face in his hands and softly pulled her in for another kiss...

To Nami's great surprise, and pleasure, his tongue slowly, almost hesitantly, pushed its way into her mouth. After nearly a full second of being frozen with shock, she quickly responded with her own tongue. It almost eagerly plunged into his mouth. She gave a small moan, which encouraged him to deepen the kiss.

Then, without even thinking about what he was doing, he slowly started to slide his hand down the front of Nami's robe. In his mind, it was just another form of going with the flow. She didn't protest or try to break the kiss... She didn't even care they were out on the deck... This was what she wanted... She started to slide her own hand down Luffy's body...

"A_HA_! I _knew _it!"

Luffy and Nami quickly broke apart and whipped their heads around to see Usopp standing in the doorway leading down below the deck with a very triumphant look on his face. "I _knew_ you two had something going on!" Then, his smile started to fade as he realized from where Luffy had pulled his hand out so quickly. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't... uh... _interrupting_ something, was I?"

"N-no," mumbled Nami embarrassedly, her face beet red.

Luffy, however, looked completely unabashed. "Yo, Usopp," he said in greeting as if being caught making out with Nami was an everyday occurrence to him. "Whatcha need out here?" "Oh, just my bag," he answered. He walked to the other side of the ship where they had been playing strip poker, and to Nami's slight surprise, he wasn't lying. He came back with his trusty, beaten-up carrying bag. "Well, uh, sorry again to intrude..." He started to leave, but Nami called out his name. He turned. "Usopp, could you p-" He knew what she was about to say. "Don't worry, Nami, I shall not say a single thing. I am the trustworthy Captain Usopp; I would rather _die _than go against my word!" And with that, he went back to his hammock.

Nami looked at Luffy sheepishly. He just grinned. After another little kiss, she took him by the hand and started dragging him to the door Usopp just left through. "Come on..." she said longingly. "Where we goin'?" he asked curiously. She giggled. "To my room, of course."

Luffy stopped, not allowing Nami to pull him any further. Her suggestive smile faltered a bit. "What's the matter?" she asked playfully. "Afraid?" Her smile became sly. "I _know_ where your hand was going, my dear captain... It wasn't just starting to fall down there by accident..." "No, that's not it," he answered. "I just don't think it's a good idea..." He remembered what Sanji told him about this kind of situation. Yes, crazy as it sounds, Luffy knew about sex, and he didn't feel quite right about it just yet. However, more importantly, a disturbing image had just come to his mind...

Nami raised an eyebrow. "Oh, don't worry about Vivi," she said. "She's out cold. The drinks really got to her. She won't hear a thing..."

"No, really," said Luffy, his tone of voice hardening. "Just... not this time, Nami."

She pouted slightly. "All right then... I won't push you into doing anything." She sighed. "So... see you in the morning, then?" "Yeah," he grinned. She kissed him on the cheek, mumbled "Good night," and walked to her bedroom, swaying her hips more than usual as if to show Luffy what he was missing. He resisted a sudden urge to run up to her, push her up against the wall, throw that seductive robe off her luscious body, and give her exactly what she wanted... And that's when the image returned unbidden into his mind.

He was kissing Vivi, very fiercely, and he started ripping her clothes off... She smiled and moaned loudly at Luffy's none-too-gentle touch...

Luffy lay in his hammock, staring at the ceiling and frowning in thought. The image was especially disturbing to him because it had come up at such a weird time. It had been extremely hard to fight off those feelings Nami had enticed in him with that simple invitation... "Come on..." But when those feelings had come up, so had his image with Vivi... He had panicked. Luffy had never been so... aroused, and then that image had had to ruin it. Truthfully, he would not have refused the offer if it hadn't been for that...

Eventually, with much tossing and turning, Luffy fell into a deep and troubled sleep.

** Yeah, I think the next chapter will have some serious lime content. Either this one or the next chapter. Just thought you ought to know. : ) And also, my parents are being bitches about my Internet "privileges", so I am only going to be able to post anything during the weekends. Sorry!**


	11. Arabasta and Portgas D Ace

Chapter 10 – Arabasta and Portgas D. Ace

"OI! LUFFY! GET UP!" screamed Usopp. Luffy opened an eye. Usopp was rocking his captain's hammock like crazy. Luffy stretched his arm back and punched Usopp out of the room. He then proceeded to jump down from his hammock. He glared at Usopp. "What's the big idea?" "Why don't you come up and see for yourself!" Usopp cried and ran away yelling incoherently. Luffy was half upset he was awakened so abruptly, half overjoyed that he was having an adventure the very moment he woke up. All thoughts about the girls were driven out of his mind, at least temporarily, as he ran to catch up with Usopp out on the deck.

The villagers were attacking the Going Merry. Some were attempting to board, some were firing guns, and some were even throwing javelins and rocks. Sanji would kick the rocks and javelins out of the air if they got too close to hitting anyone, even though Chopper tried to make him lay down. "Your wounds are _never_ gonna heal!" Chopper kept yelling. Nami would attack any would-be invaders and knock them back off the ship with her collapsible bo. Zoro, meanwhile, was getting sick of the attack. He eyed Luffy. "Oi, Captain, wanna back me up?" "You bet!"

They jumped off the ship, Luffy in front of Zoro so all the bullets hit him and were deflected harmlessly away. Zoro drew his swords in midair and immediately went to work when he hit the ground. Zoro charged into the crowd and his cursed swords flashed in the morning sun as they smoothly cut down every last attacker.

Luffy was kind of upset that all he got to do was be the meat shield. "_I _wanted to fight, too!" he whined loudly. Zoro chuckled as he sheathed his three katana. "I'll leave more for you next time, Luffy, okay?" Luffy grudgingly agreed and launched himself back onto the ship. Zoro swiftly climbed up the ladder. Usopp reported that more villagers were coming. Nami started barking orders and soon, the Going Merry was off.

Everyone collapsed on the deck, panting. Like Luffy, they had all been rudely awakened one way or another. Vivi had been the first up when she had heard the shouts of the angry villagers.

"Apparently," she explained as they all ate breakfast about 20 minutes later, "they found out that Marco was dead. They put two and two together and realized we lied to them. They figured out we killed him." "Ah, what a shame," pouted Luffy as he stuffed his face with a variety of foods. "It's not like I _wanted _to kill him... He just pissed me off so much..." Nami had to hide a grin at that comment. She knew what he meant; he had gotten pissed off because of what Marco had done to her.

* * *

About an hour after breakfast, everyone was back to his or her normal routine. Luffy sat on the ram's head and watched as they moved forward; Zoro napped; Sanji prepared food for being cooked later; Usopp was keeping watch; Nami was constantly making sure they were right on course; and Vivi was cleaning up the ship a bit. Luffy looked behind him to see Vivi struggling with a particularly heavy crate that no one bothered to put away and was now sitting in the middle of the deck. He immediately jumped down to help her. He came up right behind her and stretched his arms out to grab the crate and lift it. He stacked it on top of some barrels off to the side. Vivi turned to look at him. They smiled at each other. Luffy wordlessly went back to his post on the ram's head.

Nami saw the whole thing and frowned. (Should we keep our relationship a secret? How would Vivi react? The poor girl... she is already under a _lot_ of pressure. She's so worried about her kingdom, _and_ she's in love with a guy she knows she can't get. She may not realize it yet, but deep down inside, she knows it's not possible. I feel so bad now...)

* * *

Two hours later, they all finished lunch and Sanji made a rather grim announcement. "I'm afraid we've run out of food. We're gonna need to wait until we reach Arabasta until-" "WHAT?" Luffy screamed. "N-n-no food?" Sanji nodded. "Yeah, I'm afraid so." He shrugged. "I don't think we'll starve. We'll be there soon enough, right, Vivi-chan?" He looked at the blue-haired princess. She smiled. "Yes, Sanji-san. We should be there in a few hours."

Sure enough, several hours later, Usopp yelled, "Land spotted! Directly up ahead! Looks like a big desert." It was already getting dark, and everyone was very happy to hear this.

Vivi took a pair of binoculars and looked straight ahead. She smiled. "Good. We've finally arrived, everyone! That's Arabasta!" Everyone cheered.

When they docked, Luffy collapsed onto the sand. "F-f-food..." he panted. "We're _all _hungry, Luffy," Sanji said, rolling his eyes. "Quit acting so damn dramatic, would ya?"

It was no use. Luffy just kept on groaning while they walked to the first town in Arabasta. When Luffy saw it in the distance, his face immediately lit up. "FOOOOOOOD!" he positively screamed, and he dashed towards the city, a huge cloud of dust billowing behind him. Everyone sweat-dropped.

"He's gonna get into trouble, I know he is," Zoro muttered. "Baka. He better not do anything _too _stupid."

* * *

Captain Smoker lit the two cigars in his mouth and looked at Tashigi. "Tashigi," he grunted. "You have something to report to me?"

"Yeah," she replied breathlessly. "The Straw Hat Crew's ship was found docked at the nearby port..." "Finally," said Smoker almost eagerly. "Straw Hat... I knew you would come here to Arabasta... and now I will finally get you. There'll be no escape this time, you punk..." He looked at Tashigi. "Get the rest of the Marines here and tell them to search the city for the other Straw Hats. I want them all arrested. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" she answered crisply, saluting him. She walked away, feeling very breathless indeed.

(The Straw Hats...) she thought grimly. (That means Roronoa Zoro is here, too...)

* * *

A very strange-looking man walked casually down the road. He had a peculiar hat with a smiling face and a frowning face on the front. He wore no shirt. He had something that looked like "Asce" tattooed on his arm. He had another tattoo on his back. It was the unmistakable mark of the Whitebeard Pirates. He had a cool smile on his face as if nothing could ever go wrong in his life.

He turned his freckled face towards a vendor and gave him a friendly grin. It was almost like a smirk. The vendor tried to offer him a "golden apple" and the strange man politely refused. He took out a wanted poster and laid it down on the table in front of the vendor.

"Have you seen this kid?" he asked. The vendor looked at the poster and scratched his head. "Monkey D. Luffy? No, I'm sorry, I haven't seen him around these parts." The man merely shrugged. "Okay, thanks."

He asked another seller. He turned to face up the road. "A kid with a straw hat? Yeah, I saw one running like a madman towards the restaurant. He was yelling something about food and meat..."

The man chuckled. "That's my brother, all right... Thanks a lot, Oissan." With that, he walked towards the restaurant.

When he went inside, he found a large Marine captain watching a young man wearing a straw hat stuff his face. The captain looked menacing. He had short, sliver hair, a well-built body, and two lit cigars lodged in his mouth. The freckled man gave a polite cough. Smoker turned around. He squinted his eyes at the new stranger. He glared at him as he recognized him.

"Portgas D. Ace... What are you doing here?"

Ace merely smiled in response. "I'm just searchin' for my little brother." He pointed past Smoker at Luffy who was still stuffing his face at the bar. "And that would be him."

Smoker raised an eyebrow. "Straw Hat is your brother? Interesting..."

Luffy suddenly turned his head and stared at Smoker in fright. "Wait, now I remember you... You were the Marine captain I had to run away from!" Smoker stared back at him in a very menacing manner. "Yes, and I'm here to finish what I started." Luffy shoved the rest of the food into his mouth and sprinted past Smoker and Ace. He ran as fast as he could out of the restaurant. Smoker immediately gave chase, yelling, "Get back here, Straw Hat!" Ace ran after Smoker. "Luffy! Oi, Luffy! Wait up!"

Luffy ran and ran. He finally swallowed the rest of his food and quickly turned into an alleyway. Smoker was about to follow him, but a wall of flame abruptly blocked his path. He slowly turned around to see Ace smirking, his hand outstretched, tendrils of flame snaking from his fingers and forming the fire that was blocking the now-annoyed Marine captain.

"Portgas D. Ace," he growled from behind his cigars. "My one and only target right now is Straw Hat. Get out of my way. Rest assured, when I am done with him, I will arrest you next." Ace's smirk grew in response. "I don't think so. This battle... fire vs. smoke; it's pointless. Just give up chasing my brother."

* * *

At this point, Luffy was being chased by a very large group of Marines. He was very excited. He wished he could have stayed to chat with Ace, but he didn't have time. He was being chased, and needed to find his nakama. He soon found them. They were all dressed like Arabastans. (A/N- I do not know if that is what the people in Arabasta are really called, but in this fic, that is what they are called. : ) ) Well, all of them except Nami and Vivi; they were dressed like Arabastan dancer girls. Luffy's heart skipped a couple beats when he saw Nami dressed that way. She was so... hot. Luffy had never seen her look so sexy, and he definitely liked it. It was hard to resist staring at Vivi, too.

His crew started yelling in protest when they saw their captain running toward them with such a big group of Marines hot on his tail. "No, baka!" Zoro yelled. "Not towards us! Wait until you've shaken them off!" Luffy laughed as he ignored his first mate. "Hi, guys!" They all screamed as the Marines spotted them and started yelling things like, "It's the entire crew!" "We've found the whole Straw Hat Crew!" "Quick, after the Straw Hats!"

As they ran, they heard a startling noise behind them. They stopped and turned. They watched in awe as a huge wall of flame stopped the group of Marines dead in their tracks. They squinted as they stared into the fire. A hazy figure could be made out in the middle. It was tall and lanky, not entirely unlike Luffy. The rubber man grinned. "It's Ace." "Who?" his nakama asked in confusion. "Portgas D. Ace," Luffy replied with a huge grin. "He's my big brother." They all looked at their captain in different degrees of shock. They had never heard anything about Luffy's family before.

The flames died down. They looked at Ace's bare back. It had the tattoo on it, and Zoro recognized it instantly. "He's a part of the Whitebeard Pirates..." he muttered. "I'm the commander of the fifth fleet, actually," Ace called over his shoulder. (A/N- Sorry if I got that wrong. I can't remember which fleet he said he was commander of.)

The Marines backed off at the prospect of having to face both Fire Fist Ace and Straw Hat Luffy at the same time. They turned tail and ran off to find Smoker.

Ace turned around to finally get a proper look at his brother. "Luffy," he said warmly. "Ace!" Luffy cheered in response. Ace walked over and they clasped hands. They immediately set their arms down on a nearby barrel and started a furious, evenly-matched arm wrestling duel. The barrel eventually shattered under the strain. The Straw Hats gaped in awe as they watched this strange reunion of their captain and his older brother.

The two brothers laughed and turned to face Luffy's crew. "So, this is your crew, huh?" Ace said admiringly. "You've gone far, Luffy." "Yeah, you, too!" Luffy laughed. "Look at you! A commander in the Whitebeard pirate crew! Suge!" They both laughed again. Luffy's nakama all smiled warmly.

* * *

After a little while, Luffy invited his brother to join his crew. Ace laughed and politely refused. "Nah, sorry, I could never leave my crew. It's a shame you don't want to join, Luffy." Luffy happily shook his head. "Nope. I got my crew right here."

However, Ace did consent to join them temporarily. He also had business in the capital city of Arabasta. He was hunting down a traitor of the Whitebeard Pirates. The traitor used to be one of Ace's subordinates, and Ace was now out for revenge.

After they got on the Going Merry, Ace destroyed the ships that belonged to the Baroque Works Billions. They were soldiers working to get Number Agent rankings. Ace destroyed them all with one huge fire blast. Luffy's crew respected him even more after that.

Soon after, they docked at the next part of the island. Vivi informed them that this was the part where they needed to start crossing the desert. To Sanji's great despair, the two girls dressed in much less revealing clothing to keep from getting severe sunburns. Secretly, Luffy was also disappointed.

It got dark very quickly after they set off into the desert. They stopped to make camp. They set up tents. Everyone except Ace and Vivi fell asleep.

Ace was crouching by the fire, serenely gazing out into the night sky. Vivi walked up to him. Ace smiled. "My brother causes you guys a lot of trouble, huh?"

Vivi giggled and looked down at her feet. "I won't deny that. But still, there's something about him... He doesn't act like a captain at all, and the others don't treat him like one, either. You saw how they fought him for drinking a bit too much water earlier! But still, Luffy keeps us all together. It's amazing, really."

Ace chuckled. "He's always been like that, for as long as I can remember. Ever since he was a kid, he's had that strange charm. He's really slow, and he always screws things up, but he always has people gathered around him." Vivi smiled and sat down next to Ace. "Yeah..."

They sat in silence for a while. She looked at his calm, confident face. (How can two brothers can be so completely different?) She giggled silently. (They're both really cute, though... Especially Ace. He's actually pretty hot...) An audible giggle escaped through her lips. Ace looked at her, eyebrows raised questioningly. "What's so funny?"

In spite of herself, Vivi blushed as red as Ace's fire. "Nothing..." she mumbled.

Ace smirked and turned back to the sky. He was used to the girls being all over him, and it seemed that this princess was no exception. However, the cute orange-haired girl was different. The tension between her and Luffy was almost palpable. It wasn't a really bad tension, though... Ace smiled. (My brother's growing up... I wonder how long those two have been together without the crew knowing?)

**So, how do you like it so far? I have decided to make Ace an integral character. What do you think about that? Please review! Reviews are _so _important, I think people sometimes forget how much they are appreciated!**


	12. Vivi's Nakama

Chapter 11 – Vivi's Nakama

Ace traveled with his brother's pirate crew for about three days. He helped them fight all sorts of horrible, huge monsters. Giant scorpions and monster lizards that Vivi said were the biggest reptiles in the world were just two of them. He endured Luffy's and Usopp's whining along with the rest of the crew. And most of all, he kept Princess Vivi company.

Nami was very happy that she had found someone else. It wasn't really that obvious to the crew. In fact, Nami thought she was the only one who knew, and she was right. She noticed how Ace told Vivi jokes, and how she laughed at every single one of them; she noticed how Vivi held onto him in fright whenever giant desert monsters attacked them; she noticed how Ace acted truly concerned about Vivi's worries about Arabasta. They had stopped at a town that was basically reduced to rubble. Vivi had found the skull of a dead Arabastan. Ace had then kind-heartedly helped her bury it. His gentle kindness had made Vivi hold back her tears. Also, during their third night together, Nami peeped out of her tent to see Ace and Vivi kissing by the fireside. To Nami, _that_ was the truly dead giveaway.

However, Nami had it all wrong. Well, not completely. She was right about how Vivi felt, but wrong about how Ace felt.

The Straw Hats found a weird man while traveling across the harsh desert. He was a self-proclaimed bounty hunter, and he swore that he would defeat Ace. Ace surprised the crew by telling them that this bounty hunter, Scorpion, was the man he was looking for. Apparently, Scorpion had defeated Blackbeard, the traitor Ace said he was after in Arabasta. Ace was actually looking for this bounty hunter to see if it was true. It wasn't. Blackbeard was not in Arabasta.

* * *

Portgas D. Ace looked at Luffy and his crew with a sad smile on his face. "Well, Blackbeard isn't here... so I have to leave now."

Everyone nodded; they all knew it was coming. Well, everyone except for Vivi. Her eyes went wide. "No!" she exclaimed. "D-Don't go! Come stop the Rebel Army with us! At least stay with us for _that_ long!"

Ace smirked. "Stopping the Rebel Army is not the answer... but that's not my problem." He turned. "Take care of my brother for me, okay guys?"

But Vivi was determined to prevent Ace from leaving. She didn't even care if she had to confess her love for him in front of everyone. She ran towards him and flung her arms around him. The Straw Hats looked on in surprise. Nami suppressed a grin.

"I think I love you, Ace... Please, don't go."

_Now _Ace was at a loss for words. He just looked down at her in shock. "What? What are you talking about?" He backed away from her. "W-What are _you _talking about?" she whispered. "I... That kiss... I mean... I thought..."

Ace couldn't believe it. He was wrong about her; she was definitely _not _like all the girls he had ever known. He thought back to all the other girls who played with him like this... He always knew that girls just liked him for his looks. None of them ever seemed to want to get to know him, and yet they would always act like they were going out with him. Ace remembered several occasions where he had intimate moments like his kiss with Vivi. He was always sure they weren't serious.

Even though it hurt him deep down, Ace had always played along with these girls. If they wanted to flirt with him so badly, why not make them happy? Ace shook his head as Vivi hugged him again. How come _this _girl was different?

"You... you love me?" he said quietly. "For... who I am?" Ace inwardly winced as he realized how awkward that must have sounded.

Vivi looked up at him in surprise. "Of course. Why do you sound so surprised?" "Nothing," he replied calmly. "Forget it. It's a long story." And with that he kissed her. Their kiss was very passionate; they did not even care that the entire Straw Hat Crew was watching them with shocked expressions on their faces. Ace and Vivi finally broke apart.

"So... does this mean you love me back?" she asked hopefully.

Ace sighed and turned away from her. "Honestly, Vivi... I don't know. But I _do _know this: I have to go, no matter what." She gasped. "No..." she whispered.

"Yes," he responded. "I have to hunt down Blackbeard. The sooner he lays dead at my feet, the better." He grinned. "Perhaps I can come visit you whenever I am not busy."

Vivi fought back her tears as she nodded. "Yes... I would like that..."

Ace turned to look at the Straw Hat Crew again. "All right, bye guys," he said, waving cheerfully. They were about to give him a farewell back, but a loud noise to their left diverted their attention. Luffy looked back to say bye to Ace... but he was gone.

Nami walked up to Luffy and put a hand on his shoulder. He shivered uncontrollably at her touch. "It's okay, baby," she whispered. "We'll see him again, I know it." Luffy nodded solemnly. "Yeah, you're right as usual, Nami."

* * *

The Straw Hats were struggling against the brutal desert. They needed to reach Katorea. They needed to get there in time to stop Vivi's childhood friend Kohza and his Rebel Army from attacking the Royal Army. They were all convinced that this was the best course of action to take, that this had to come before hunting down Crocodile. The sense of urgency in the air was almost thick enough to cut with a knife.

They all truly believed it was what they had to do... until that faithful day.

They were trudging along as usual, Luffy and Usopp fighting over water as usual. After a little while, they walked past a palm tree.

Usopp was the first to notice that Luffy was no longer with them.

They turned around to see him sitting down and resting his back on the trunk of the palm tree. His face was hidden in the shadow of his straw hat.

"Oi, Luffy!" called Usopp. "What the hell are you doing?" Vivi looked at Luffy. "L-Luffy-san? What's wrong?" she asked tentatively. Luffy stayed silent for a moment as he sighed in what seemed to be an angry manner. He responded...

"I quit."

"_Huh?_" they all chorused.

Vivi stepped forward. "What do you mean?" she asked, confused. Usopp sighed in exasperation. "Luffy, we don't have time for your little _episodes_ right now. Get up." "We _are _going back, aren't we?" Chopper asked. "Damn straight we are!" Sanji answered heatedly. "We're going back to Katorea. We're going to stop that shitty Rebel Army!" He inhaled angrily. "If a million people of this country clash," he yelled, "it's all over! Get it? This is for Vivi-chan." He walked over to Luffy and grabbed the front of his shirt. "So get up, Luffy. We're going."

"Don't care," said the captain stubbornly as he hit Sanji away from him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?" Sanji screamed. Luffy closed his eyes for a few long seconds. He opened them again with a deadly serious expression on his face.

"Vivi," he said darkly. "Yes?" she replied politely. "I want to beat the crap out of _Crocodile_!" She flinched at his loud and angry voice. His voice softened up a bit. "If we stop all those rebels, will Crocodile stop? Even if we reach Katorea, there's nothing we can do. We're pirates. You're better off going there without us."

The Crew was surprised yet again. "That senseless idiot can sure make a good point sometimes," Sanji admitted. "Yeah, Luffy can be really surprising sometimes," Usopp agreed.

"That- that isn't-" Vivi started to stutter. Luffy interrupted her. "All you want is for no one to die in this battle. Not the people of Arabasta. Not any of us. You're taking on a Shichibukai! Millions of your people are preparing to fight in that battle." Luffy paused. "And all you want is for no one to get hurt," he scoffed. "Aren't you just fooling yourself?"

At that point, Vivi was trembling with anger. She stormed up to Luffy. "And what's wrong with that?" she demanded angrily. "What's wrong with not wanting people to die!"

Luffy closed his eyes again. "People die," he responded calmly.

Vivi snapped. She still hadn't really recovered from her shock with Ace, and this... this argument was too much for her. How could Luffy push her like this? Was she seeing his true, uncaring nature? Well, it was about time for her to show him _her_ uncaring nature... She drew her hand back and slapped him across the face as hard as she could. The force of the blow sent Luffy flying in the air a few feet before painfully hitting the ground. "Stop talking like that!" she yelled. "I'll _never_ let you say that again! Death is what we're trying to prevent here!" She shook her head angrily. "It's no one's fault. Not the Rebel Army's fault... Not the Royal Army's fault... No one in this country is at fault. So why should anyone have to _die_!" Her face became contorted with rage. "It's all Crocodile's fault!"

Luffy got up with a grunt, scowling at Vivi rather viciously. He seemed to forget whom he was arguing with. Anger pushed all rational thought out of his mind, leaving only enough room for his instincts. He lunged at her and punched her full in the face. Usopp and Sanji yelled angrily at their captain for this; clearly, in their minds, he had gone too far. He ignored them. "Then why are _you _risking your life?" he yelled very loudly. She jumped on him and pinned him to the ground. "What needs to be done... in this country..." Luffy struggled to say as she started hitting him, "is clear... even to me!" "WHAT OF IT?" she screamed as she repeatedly punched and slapped Luffy in the face. "You think risking your one life is enough?" he demanded angrily through a bleeding nose. She kept hitting him as she responded, "Then what am I supposed to risk!" Luffy grabbed Vivi's hands to stop her from hitting him anymore. She relaxed and almost collapsed on top of Luffy. An expression of intense sadness and hopelessness crossed her face. "I have nothing else to risk..." she whispered helplessly.

Luffy growled angrily and threw her off of him. "Try risking our lives along with yours! WE'RE YOUR NAKAMA!"

Her eyes went wide with shock. She inhales sharply and covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. Tears started flowing down her face and over her hand. Luffy walked over to her as the tears started to flow. He stroked her cheek gently, wiping away some of the tears. "We _are_ your nakama, right?" he asked gently. She started really crying. She sobbed uncontrollably. He smiled. "What?" he said. "So it turns out... you _do_ cry."

"Oh, Luffy!" she wailed. She flung her arms around him and sobbed hard into his shoulder. He awkwardly patted her head. "It's okay now..."

He got up. She stopped crying. She looked at him with silent tears still flowing down her face. She and the rest of the Crew watched him somewhat expectantly. He picked up his straw hat, which had fallen off during his and Vivi's fight, dusted it off, put it on his head, and pulled it down low to cover his eyes in shadow.

"Vivi... just tell me where Crocodile is. Just point me in the right direction. I'll put a _real_ stop to this bullshit! I'm gonna kick Crocodile's ass into next week! The bastard's as good as dead! Now, tell me where he's hiding."

**Hey. I am really sorry about how fast I made Vivi's and Ace's relationship develop, but I just didn't want to have to build up to it, you know what I mean? I mean, it makes perfect sense for a sensible girl like her to fall in love with a sincere guy like Ace, do you not agree? P Anyway... two things I want to pint out. One, it does not seem my Internet access is limited after all. Yay! And two, I said I would have lime content in the last chapter or this one. As you can see, there is no lime in either one. But fear not! There will still be the promised lime in this fic! But who will be in it? Read on find to find out... And also, I have found that a good number of reviews encourages me to work on chapters faster. ; ) So, _please_, if you took the time to read this, it should be common courtesy to take the very short time it takes to _review_. You would not _believe _the number of hits I have... (rambles on) lol**


	13. Crocodile

Chapter 12 - Crocodile

**I have some reviews to respond to...**

**sara haruko takenouchi kamiya - I know it was part of the anime. It was a very important part, and it definitely belongs in this fic.**

**Nintendo Guru - Thank you so much! You have _no_ idea what that compliment means to me! It makes me very happy to hear that. And is _that_ what they call him in the dubbed version? Captain Chaser? Well, he is Smoker in the Japanese anime, and that is what I watch. I do not read the manga anymore. : P**

**draganviper - ...thanks. : )**

**Kala - Uh, thanks for trying to help me out, but it is Zoro in Japan, and since One Piece originated in Japan, I think I am gonna keep calling him Zoro, not Zolo.**

**Wild Gamer - Yes, it did. Well, I do not know about the dubbed anime, but it did in the Japanese anime. **

**Aztec Goddess - Well, uh, I am glad you like Ace so much! And I am very glad that you did not intend on making any puns. lol  
**

"Oooh! I am _sooo_ bored! I think I will dance...! Yes, spin, spin! Un, deux...!"

The gigantic Mr. 4 clapped and laughed stupidly at Mr. 2's antics. The Mr. 1 pair looked on in disgust.

The Mr. 1 pair, Mr. 2, and Mr. 4 pair were all at the Spider Café and were waiting to meet their boss, Mr. 0. Presently, his second-in-command, Ms. Allsunday, appeared. She was wearing her rather skimpy white cowgirl outfit.

"All of you are to go to Rainbase now. That is our true meeting spot, and that is where you will meet Mr. 0."

Miss Merrychristmas and Mr. 2 did a lot of complaining, but soon enough, the top Baroque Agents arrived at the Rainbase casino. There, they found out that their leader was none other than the Shichibukai named Crocodile, the deadly pirate who worked under the government and played hero for the people of Arabasta. He told his subordinates all about his ultimate plan, "Operation Utopia". The plan was to get the Royal Army and the Rebel Army to completely annihilate each other.

The deadly Baroque Agents were given their orders, and they were soon on their way to make Crocodile's fantasy "utopia" a reality. In the meantime, Crocodile made sure that no one got in their way. However, Miss Allsunday soon gave him potentially upsetting news.

"The Millions have reported sightings of a somewhat infamous pirate crew. Straw Hat Luffy and his crew are on their way to your little casino here as we speak."

Crocodile merely chuckled in response as he lit a cigar. "Don't be impolite. Show them to the V.I.P. room." Miss Allsunday also chuckled, nodded her head, and left to carry out her orders.

Crocodile looked down at the table he was sitting at. It was laden with a small feast. He frowned. (Princess Vivi is with Straw Hat Luffy... I _cannot_ allow her to meet up with the Rebel leader Kohza. Everything will be ruined if that happens...)

* * *

After Luffy's and Vivi's fight, everyone seemed to relax a bit. Sanji was hitting on the girls again, Luffy and Usopp were fighting over their small water supply again, and Chopper was suddenly able to walk on his own again. Before the fight, he had been passed out on a little makeshift sled that Zoro was dragging behind him. The heat had been too much for the poor little reindeer, but now it seemed the raised spirits had given Chopper the ability to stand up to the intense desert heat.

They finally reached the city. Luffy got serious again; they were getting very close to the casino where he would finally get to meet Crocodile and, more importantly, beat the living shit out of him for making Vivi and her people so miserable.

Nami put a comforting hand on his shoulder... or at least she tried to. He immediately shrugged it off without even looking at her. She almost felt hurt by the way he had been treating her since his fight with Vivi. It was like he was trying his best to completely ignore Nami's presence. However, Nami knew what kind of mood he was in. The only thing that was on his mind was Crocodile, and that was perfectly fine with her.

They were actually making pretty good time. Until...

"Straw Hat Luffy! I've got you now! Give up!"

Usopp turned and screamed. "AAAH! It's Smokey! How the hell did he reach us!"

Luffy also turned. Sure enough, there was Captain Smoker at a dead run right towards the crew. Luffy also screamed and ran as fast as he could away from Smoker and toward the casino.

"Luffy, wait!" Nami tried to call out to him. "We can't keep up...!" It was no use. Luffy was running extremely fast and yelling his head off.

"Oh, man..." Luffy groaned to himself. "He's the _only _one I can't fight!"

Luffy was way ahead of his crew. Suddenly, a large group of Millions cut the crew off. Smoker ran right past them all and continued pursuing Luffy. Luffy turned his head. "Hey, you guys take care of them and meet me at the casino! I'm gonna find Crocodile!" "All right, see you there!" Zoro called back.

Smoker raised an eyebrow as he continued chasing Luffy. (What is Straw Hat's obsession here? What is his connection with Crocodile...?)

* * *

The Millions agents quickly surrounded Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Nami, Chopper, and Vivi. One of them stepped forward and pointed a gun at Vivi, smirking. "Come on, Princess, you're comin' with-"

He was rather abruptly interrupted by his gun getting kicked into his face. The man fell down and Sanji lowered his leg. "Anyone else want to threaten Vivi-chan?" he said in a very quiet and deadly voice.

The Millions charged. Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper sprung into action. Millions agents were falling dead left and right. "Zoro," Sanji grunted in the middle of the battle. "Get Vivi-chan to the casino." Zoro got out of the crowd and started running in the same direction Luffy and Smoker ran off in. Usopp, Nami, and Vivi followed close behind. Usopp turned his head as they ran. "Don't worry!" he called. "We'll get Vivi there and also make sure Luffy's all right!"

Chopper threw an agent into a group of other agents; Sanji got on his hands and spun around kicking everyone around him in the jaw. In moments, the agents were done. Chopper turned small again and looked grimly at Sanji who was lighting a fresh cigarette. "So, now what?" asked the little doctor.

* * *

Vivi knew a shortcut to the casino. When they reached it, they stopped. Usopp gasped. "The entire place is surrounded by water...!"

"Straw Hat, stop!"

Zoro and the others turn to see Luffy making a mad dash for the casino. "Everyone in!" he yelled before rushing past them. They followed right behind him and Smoker followed right behind them.

When they got into the casino, a very strange sight met their eyes. A group of casino workers were standing along the sides of the big red carpet leading to the big ornate door in the back of the building. Usopp's eyes widened. "V.I.P room...?" The workers were smiling at them and beckoning towards the door as if inviting the pirates into the V.I.P room. Luffy took no notice of how suspicious this was. He was intent on two things: finding Crocodile and keeping away from Smoker.

When they sprinted through the door, they found themselves running down a very long corridor. At the end were two signs. The sign pointing to the left said "V.I.P" while the one pointing to the right said "Pirates". Nami stopped. "Wait, Luffy! Which way-?" Luffy didn't even stop to answer; he grabbed her hand and made a hard right turn. "Wait, this might be a trap, Luffy...!" "I don't care! We _are_ pirates, aren't we?"

Zoro, Vivi, and Usopp watched on helplessly as Luffy and Nami ran to the dead end with Smoker right behind them. "It's a trap," said Usopp. "It was the most obvious thing in the world, too!" "Yeah, well," said Zoro, "Luffy is the most _oblivious_ person in the world." They watched as Luffy, Nami, and Smoker came to a stop... and the floor beneath their feet opened up. "A trap door!" yelled Vivi in anguish. "Probably leading straight to Crocodile," Zoro muttered. The trap door closed. "Come on, guys," said the swordsman. "Let's find another way down to Crocodile. I betcha Luffy and Nami are trapped down there now..."

* * *

When Luffy fell into the prison cell, he immediately felt weaker. When Smoker pinned him to the ground with the tip of his metal staff, however, he felt like he was on the bottom of the ocean. He had no energy whatsoever. "W-what's going on?" he said faintly.

"Sea stone," Smoker replied. "It's a strange mineral found at the bottom of the sea. We don't know much about it, but it seems to have the same properties of the sea itself. Therefore, it paralyzes Devil's Fruit punks like you. The prison cells at Marine HQ are made of the stuff so criminals who ate the Devil's Fruit cannot escape."

"Hey, that's not fair!" yelled Nami indignantly. "You let Luffy go this instant!"

A deep, sinister chuckle was suddenly heard. The three captives turned their attention upon their surroundings for the first time. They were in a steel cage. The room they were in was huge. Its walls were made of very thick glass behind which was what seemed to be a banana crocodile aquarium. Many of the deadly beasts were swimming around. The chuckle, of course, had come from Crocodile and he was seated at a very large table in the middle of the room with his back turned to his captives. Smoker retuned his staff to his back, allowing Luffy to get back up. Smoker glared at Crocodile's back. "Crocodile..." he breathed with pure hatred. No one heard him.

"My, my, little lady. Aren't _we_ a little bossy?" Crocodile said, amused. "Yeah, what about it?" she shot back at the Shichibukai. "You know, Crocodile, you're not gonna get away with this! You're nothing but a heartless punk and Luffy here is gonna kick your ass once we-!" "No, Nami, stop!" Luffy interrupted her firmly.

Nami turned to face Luffy angrily. "Why? It's true, isn't it?" she yelled. "You're gonna beat the-" Luffy walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked her intently in the eye. "Nami," he said in a quiet, yet commanding voice, "be quiet. I don't want him mad at you. That bastard will attack you."

Nami was a little stunned that Luffy had suddenly become so concerned for her safety. She was pretty sure that Crocodile had no intention whatsoever of hurting her, but she still found Luffy's worries very touching. "Luffy, I understand your concern, but-" He silenced her with a sudden kiss. Her eyes went wide in surprise and she didn't respond at first, but she got over it and melted into his arms, kissing him back. It wasn't nearly as passionate as the one on the ship, but it still lasted a good few seconds and it made Nami temporarily forget all their troubles.

"Well, Straw Hat... now I see why you're so weak."

Luffy turned his head to look at Smoker questioningly, Nami still in his arms. "Huh?"

Smoker shook his head and sighed. "You let love get in your way. Relationships such as the one you share with that girl just make you weak. Whether you are a Marine, a pirate, or any kind of warrior, you cannot allow love to get in your way. You would be stronger without it, Straw Hat."

Luffy was about to retort when Crocodile chuckled again. They all looked at him. His back was still turned towards them. "The Marine has a point, Straw Hat Luffy," he said. "There's only one word to describe love..." He turned to look at them. "...pointless."

Luffy finally let go of Nami as he looked at the face of his enemy. That completely smug look on his large, disgusting face... Luffy charged at the bars of the cage, but as soon as he touched them, the sea stone within them made him collapse.

"I'll... kick your ass... Crocodile... You wait..."

Crocodile laughed. "I admire your spirit, Straw Hat Luffy... but what in the world makes you think you can beat me? Don't be so rash."

At that moment, Miss Allsunday walked in. She was holding a struggling Vivi by the back of her desert cloak. She threw the princess down the stairs. "VIVI!" Luffy screamed.

"Ah, there's our guest of honor!" said Crocodile cheerfully. Vivi stood up and spat at Crocodile. "Guest?" she hissed. "Since when do _guests_ plan on killing their hosts?" "Kill?" Crocodile laughed. "My, my, so many people are very intent on killing me! Why does everyone hate me so much, Miss Allsunday?" Miss Allsunday laughed with him. "Please, Princess, sit down," Crocodile invited Vivi, gesturing toward the table. "Have some food while I explain my plans for your precious country... and the part you will play in them."

Vivi shook with rage, but she listened. She sat at the table, but refused to eat anything. She wanted to hear what Crocodile's plans were. He told her all about "Operation Utopia" while Luffy, Nami, and Smoker listened, too. Crocodile was very pleased to see how angry Vivi got when he told her exactly how the people of her country were going to end up killing each other off.

Then, Zoro and Usopp burst into the room. Or rather, Zoro burst into the room with Usopp cowering behind him. "Zoro, thank god!" said Nami in relief. "H-hey," Usopp stuttered, "w-what about m-m-me?" Luffy laughed. "Yay for Usopp, too!" he cheered.

Now Crocodile looked angry. "I didn't invite you all here. Uninvited guests are very much unwelcome." "Shut up," said Zoro, drawing two of his swords. "Let Luffy and the girls go, now!" "You are in no position to threaten me," Crocodile growled. Then, his scowl suddenly turned into a grin. "But if you want to free your friends so badly..." He opened a trapdoor and threw a key into the room beneath it. "...you should go and save them while you still can. Miss Allsunday and I have business elsewhere." And with that, he and Miss Allsunday walked out of the room.

Zoro cursed and ran over to the trapdoor. He watched as a giant banana crocodile ate it. "Oh, shit..." "What?" asked Luffy and Nami at the same time. "A damned croc just ate the key..." said Zoro. "Who cares, just slice the cage!" yelled Luffy. Zoro raised an eyebrow. "I don't think my swords are gonna be able to cut through those bars... but I'll try."

He took out his third sword, placed it in his teeth, and attempted an Oni Giri on the metal bars. It didn't work. "Nope, sorry guys, we need that key," said Zoro. "How are we gonna get it?" cried Usopp. "A croc freakin' _ate _it!"

"Hey, calm down," came a very calm, very familiar voice from the doorway through which Miss Allsunday and Vivi had entered earlier. Vivi gasped. "Sanji-san!"

Sanji was no longer wearing his desert clothes; he was once again dressed in his usual jacket and tie. He was also wearing sunglasses with yellow lenses. He grinned at Vivi and then looked at the cage. He walked down to it. He smiled at Zoro. "So, your shitty swords were no use, eh?"

Zoro was about to retort, but Usopp interrupted with his panicky voice. "Uh, guys... The room below the trapdoor... is filling with water... THIS ROOM IS GONNA GET FLOODED!"

Sanji started to kick the bars of the cage frantically. They wouldn't budge. "Damn, these bars are tough..." he muttered. Zoro gave him a smug smirk.

The crocodiles didn't want to wait for the water to rise to start their feeding frenzy. They started pounding on the glass walls. Eventually, they broke, and water rushed in. The room started to collapse. The cage broke as everyone struggled to stay above the water. Soon, the entire room was submerged.

Nami swam around frantically looking for Luffy amongst the underwater debris. She found him sinking. His eyes were closed. She grabbed his cold, limp hand and started swimming as fast as she could.

She and the others made it out of the debris of the sunken room. Nami could now see the light coming from the surface of the water. It was the light of the setting sun. She turned herself toward the surface and swam as hard as she could while dragging Luffy behind her. However, it was too much; she just couldn't swim for long while holding Luffy's limp body. He was completely deadweight. She struggled on...

She suddenly felt her burden being released. She turned to see Sanji taking Luffy into his arms and start kicking his way up to the surface. Sanji smiled at her as he started to swim effortlessly to the surface. She grinned back and followed.

Finally, they all broke the surface. Sanji dragged Luffy out of the water, and Zoro dragged Smoker out of the water. "W-w-what the hell, Zoro?" Usopp yelled in fright. "Smokey's the enemy! Why'd you save him?" "Under Captain's orders," Zoro replied, jerking his head toward Luffy. Luffy got up, coughed up some water, and turned to see the unconscious Smoker laying at Zoro's feet. "Thanks, Zoro," Luffy said simply. "Come on!" said Nami. "Let's get going before he wakes up!"

The crew ran into town with smiles on their faces. They were alive. Even Vivi was smiling. She had just heard Crocodile's plans. "Come on, everyone!" she called happily. "We're going to Alubarna!"

* * *

When they left the city, it was almost nighttime. Chopper was waiting for them with a giant crab he seemed to have befriended. "He'll take us to Alubarna," said Chopper. They all climbed on and the crab took off at an awkward, sideways run.

They were on the crab for quite some time. Zoro had somehow managed to fall asleep. Usopp was complaining about the uncomfortable ride. Chopper was guiding the crab and wasn't saying anything. Sanji and Vivi were also silent. Luffy walked over to Nami and sat next to her. He wrapped an arm around her.

Nami blushed slightly. "Luffy..." she whispered. "Vivi's here..." "So?" he said. "She's not lookin'." "Come on, Luffy..." He wouldn't let go. She had no choice; she pushed him off her and stood up. He looked up at her with a hurt expression on his face.

"Oh, don't give me that..." Nami said sadly. Vivi walked over. "What's the matter, Luffy-san?" she asked. He glared at Nami and was about to respond, but then a large golden hook flew out of nowhere and grabbed Vivi around the middle. She screamed as she was yanked off the crab. Luffy stood up and saw that a trail of sand was behind the hook...

"It's him," he growled.

He stretched his arms out and grabbed the hook. He launched himself toward the hook and Vivi. With one hand, he held onto the hook and he used his other hand to grab Vivi and throw her back onto the crab. Sanji caught her. She ran to the edge of the crab and yelled in despair, "Luffy-san! No!"

"Don't worry!" he yelled back as the hook took him closer to Crocodile. "I'm gonna kick his ass!" "Okay!" called Vivi back, trying to sound brave. She wiped a tear from her eye. "We'll await you in Alubarna!" She was now dangerously close to falling off the edge of the crab. Nami grabbed her and yanked her away from the edge. They all watched from very far away as Luffy fell off the hook, stood up, and faced two figures. Soon, the three figures became little black pinpricks on the horizon... and then they were gone.

Vivi buried her face in her hands as she fell onto her knees. "If he dies... it's all my fault..." Nami shook her head. "No, Vivi. We _decided_ to help you, remember?"

"That's right," said Zoro. Sanji looked at him in surprise. "When did _you _wake up?" the cook asked. Zoro ignored him. "We have to get you to Alubarna to stop those rebels," he continued. "What happens to us now is of _no_ importance!"

Vivi looked shocked at Zoro's words. She held back her tears as she smiled up at her nakama. "Thank you, guys... so much... I just hope... Luffy..."

Nami knelt down beside Vivi and hugged her. "I know," Nami whispered. "We _all_ want Luffy to be okay, and he will. He won't die, and he won't let Crocodile get away without a serious beating."

Everyone was silent for a while. Vivi looked at Nami. She spoke quietly so no one could hear. "Listen, Nami... I know how things must have looked between Ace and me..."

Nami looked at Vivi in surprise. (Why is she bringing this up _now_?) she wondered.

"...but I was really lonely and... and... confused when Ace joined us," Vivi continued. "He was so comforting... I thought I had fallen in love with him..." Nami nodded, encouraging the princess to continue.

"Well, Nami, I... I just want you to know; I still love Luffy." Nami's heart sank. Vivi was quiet for a little bit before she continued. "I want you to tell me the truth, Nami... Are you and Luffy together?"

Nami didn't know what to say. (If I tell her the truth, she would be devastated. The last thing she needs now is _more_ stress.) "N-no. No, we're not." They were quiet for a few long moments again.

Vivi smiled a tiny bit. "I really hope he'll be okay. What would I... I mean, what would _we_ do if he died?"

"Don't even think like that," Nami said soothingly. "He'll come back, and we'll decide things when he does."

"Oi!" said Usopp suddenly. "There's a really big lake up ahead!" "The crab doesn't like water!" said Chopper. "What do we do?"

Vivi stood up, all business again. Nami was right; Luffy would be fine, and they would decide things when he returned. For now, Vivi had to push all thoughts about Luffy out of her head as she concentrated on quelling the rebellion. "Well, we have to figure out _some_thing," she said, frowning. "We have to cross that lake to get to Alubarna..."

**The whole Crocodile thing should come to a close next chapter. I am not sure yet. Thanks for the reviews! And I am happy to see that a good number of people put this story on their favorite/alert list... but then how come a majority of you do not even give me any reviews? Oh, whatever. : P**


	14. Vivi's Surprise Visitor

Chapter 13 – Vivi's Surprise Visitor

**All right, I want to start off with a small note... I have suddenly realized that this fic could be considered a big Arabasta arc spoiler. I am SO sorry that I have not put up a spoiler warning, and I hope that no one who has been reading this is angry about that. I will give you a warning here: If you do not want to know how the Arabasta arc _ends_, do not read this chapter. : P Again, I am sorry for not putting up a spoiler warning earlier. : (**

**And now, for the review answering.**

**karen12 – You are the best. Thank you so much for taking the time to review all my chapters; they were all meaningful reviews, too. : ) I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. And I am glad that you think it is cool that it is a guy who is writing this. Honestly, I have been thinking that it is kinda pathetic; I mean, this _is _much more of a girl thing. But who cares? It is fun anyway! –lol- And yeah, if more people keep trying to correct my fic with how things are in the DUBBED One Piece, I am going to kill them. : P Just kidding, of course... We should pity those people, really. And Zoro did not know how tight of a grip the rock had on her, or exactly how thick it was. He would not have wanted to accidentally cut Nami, too. Besides, Zoro is not one to interrupt his captain's battles. : )**

**sara haruko takenouchi kamiya – Wow... good "comeback"? I did not realize that the previous chapter was so poorly done. Well, thanks for the compliment.**

**WildGamer – Do you know what bittorrent is? It is a special way of downloading stuff, and it is the only way to get One Piece episodes. Go to That is where you will find the Japanese episodes 1-156, all subtitled, of course. If you do not know about bittorrents and need help, tell me.**

**Nintendo Guru – Hee hee... quality fic? (blushes) Aw, do people really think this is a quality fic? I am glad to hear that! Just wait until the sequel... _That_ will be a true quality fic. At least, I hope. ; ) And it is lung cancer, definitely lung cancer. : P**

**Realsmartz – Wow... is _that_ the reason? That is kind of a shame... I have _tons_ of fics on my alert list, and I review every single update, and I always find something different to say. Well, almost always. I did not realize it was such hard work for other people. Okay, then. : )**

**Mars Cutie – Wow, only two episodes? Then you must really love One Piece if you are already reading fan fiction for it!**

**Aztec Goddess – Lol, "Nami's so fat". You are so funny. And do not worry; you will be seeing Vivi's reaction soon enough.**

**Dust-in – Oh, do not worry, my friend; I have not forgotten that this fic is also LuffyxVivi. ; ) And as for my opinion on 4Kids... DEATH. They deserve DEATH. That is right; with the capital letters and everything. : P**

**Whew! Now we can finally get to the story!**

* * *

Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Nami, Chopper, and Vivi all arrived at Alubarna Square much more quickly than planned. They were helped by various friendly desert animals. The crew thought that the helpful animals were kind of strange, but Vivi was perfectly happy with them.

However, they arrived too late. The civil war had already begun.

The Straw Hats needed to get Vivi to the palace in the center of the town as quickly as possible. They divided into different groups and they all ended up fighting the top Baroque Works agents. Usopp and Chopper were barely able to defeat Mr. 4, Miss Merrychristmas, and their freakish dog Lasso, who was actually a gun that had somehow ate a Devil's Fruit and turned into a dog. Sanji went against Mr. 2, the crazy ballerina man. It was almost a perfectly even match, but Sanji won in the end. Zoro almost died in his battle against Mr. 1. Mr. 1's body was made of steel, but in the end, Zoro was able to kill him; he figured out how to cut steel. Nami used her new weapon, the Clima Tact, and its ability to call upon the weather to kill Miss Doublefinger.

After their battles, they were trying to find their way to the palace. Zoro, of course, had tons of trouble finding his way; he had no navigation skills whatsoever. When he found someone who was willing to help him, he sincerely wished he had stayed lost.

He ran into Tashigi.

"W-what the hell are you doing here?" Zoro spluttered, half in rage, half in fright. (Why her? Why _now_?) he thought wildly.

Tashigi made no move to capture the swordsman. She looked very grave. "Roronoa Zoro..." she said softly. "I know what's going on here. For now, I have no intention to fight you. I'll make you pay one day... but not now." She pointed behind her. "The palace is that way. You better go help Princess Vivi as quickly as you can."

Zoro just looked at the Marine in shock. He still couldn't get over how much she looked like Kuina... (Is there... some sort of meaning to their likeness?) he thought. (No. It's all in my head. Just coincidence.)

"Go!" Tashigi said loudly, interrupting his thoughts. "Before I change my mind!"

He walked up to her. They were only inches apart now. Tashigi gasped. "W-what do you-?"

"Who _are _you?" Zoro demanded quietly, staring intently down at her face. "I don't know what you're talking about..." she breathed. She turned her face away from him, feeling rather uncomfortable under his intense stare. Or was it the fact that she felt the heat rising to her face...?

Zoro finally started to walk in the direction Tashigi pointed in earlier. He turned around and looked at her briefly. "I'll never be able to fight you... not now, not ever. You're the only person I can't bring myself to raise my swords against." Surprised by this, she was about to ask why, but Zoro turned back around and answered her before she could even state the question.

"You look so much like _her_... It's almost like the feelings I had for her got transferred to you or something." Without turning to look at her again, he ran off to find the others.

(Feelings... for _her_?) Tashigi thought, bewildered. She realized that she was curious as to who this girl was... the one that reminded Zoro so much of her... She immediately shook off the feeling. "No," she firmly told herself out loud. "Your only connection to Roronoa Zoro will be capturer and prisoner. The next time we see him, there will be no holding back... no matter how much he refuses to fight me."

* * *

"Your precious Luffy... is dead."

Vivi could not believe her ears. She and Crocodile were on top of the palace. He was telling her that he killed Luffy. "You're such a liar," she whispered fiercely.

Crocodile laughed harshly. "Am I? Well, whether you want to believe it or not, he is buried beneath the sands of Arabasta... forever!" He started laughing again as he grabbed Vivi by the throat. "No!" her father, King Cobra, cried. His arms were nailed to the stone wall of the palace. He watched on helplessly as Crocodile lifted Vivi up by the throat and held her over the edge of the palace roof. She looked down as she struggled. It was a very long drop down... but what bothered her the most was the sight of her people fighting each other directly below her.

"Join your precious citizens... in death!" Crocodile laughed as he let go of Vivi.

The Straw Hats were gathered at the foot of the palace. They could see a body dropping down...

"Oh, my god!" Nami gasped. "It's Vivi! We won't be able to catch her!"

All of a sudden, Luffy came flying out of the sky. "CROCODILE!" he screamed.

As a large falcon swooped down and caught Vivi, Luffy pulled his arm back and sent his fist flying at Crocodile's face. Crocodile smirked as his face started to turn into sand. "Haven't you learned yet, Straw Hat Luffy? You will _never_ be able to hit-!"

He was interrupted by Luffy's fist colliding with his jaw. He went flying back into the palace wall. Luffy landed next to him. His hand was dripping with water, and he was armed with a large barrel on his back. It had a hose coming out of it, and it was dripping water.

Crocodile got up, rubbing the spot where Luffy punched him and warily eyeing the water barrel. "So... you found out my weakness..." he breathed.

* * *

"Yeah! Go Luffy!" cheered Usopp. The falcon came down with Vivi on his back. Vivi got off and the falcon turned back into a man. His name was Pell, and he was a guardian of Arabasta. A Zoan Devil Fruit gave him the ability to turn into a falcon.

"This is no time to be celebrating!" Vivi cried. The Straw Hats all looked at her. "There's a bomb... It is set to go off in the middle of the Square in 15 minutes! The Rebel Army and Royal Army will both be annihilated! That was Crocodile's plan the whole time! We have to find that bomb!"

Soon, the group was divided again as they all started to comb the huge city square Alubarna.

* * *

While Luffy and Crocodile fought, Miss Allsunday took the king and told him to bring her to the ancient tomb of the Arabastan kings. She wanted to read an ancient artifact there. Apparently, it was part of Crocodile's plan...

Soon after they arrived, Miss Allsunday found the giant stone tablet and read the strange markings on them. Soon after, Crocodile appeared. He was bruised, bloody, and soaked with water, but he was alone.

"You defeated him?" asked Miss Allsunday casually. "Of course," he replied. "Now tell me... what does that stone tablet say?"

She told him that it did not contain the information he was after. She told him it only contained the history of Alubarna. King Cobra silently watched as a deadly quiet ensued. Eventually, Crocodile sighed. "So it doesn't have what I'm looking for, huh? Well..." He glared at his closest companion. "I no longer have any need for you... Nico Robin."

Robin gasped, stepped back, and took out a small glass vial of water. "I'm not stupid," she said angrily. "I knew you would do this in the end. But I know your weakness!"

He turned into sand to as she threw the vial at him. It passed through him harmlessly. He reformed behind Robin and impaled her with his giant golden hook. She collapsed onto the hard, stone floor, the gaping wound bleeding profusely.

Crocodile was laughing again, but he was once again interrupted by Luffy. He came running into the tomb and landed a Gomu Gomu Pistol on Crocodile's face.

"How...?" Crocodile hissed, getting back up. "You don't have water..." Then he noticed that Luffy's fists and bare feet were dripping with his own blood.

"Blood will work just as well as water, won't it?" Luffy asked quietly.

The battle began. It was very short and very intense. In the middle of it, Crocodile took off his golden hook, revealing a smaller, silver hook underneath. It was dripping with purple poison.

"I don't understand..." he said. "Are you honestly willing to die for this country? You could have lived longer!"

"No..." Luffy said very quietly. "It's for Vivi." He started yelling. "She's my nakama! You would _never_ understand! As long as she keeps fighting for this country, as long as she keeps putting her life on the line for this country, I will do the same!"

"All for that girl?" Crocodile chuckled sinisterly. "What, do you _love_ her or something, Straw Hat Luffy?" He laughed. "What happened to that orange-haired _whore_ of your-?" Luffy screamed and punched him hard in the face.

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK LIKE THAT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "VIVI IS MY NAKAMA, AND I LOVE NAMI! I WILL _NEVER_ LET YOU TALK ABOUT NAMI LIKE THAT AGAIN! **_EVER!_**"

As he started to pound on Crocodile, he couldn't help but think... (But does Nami love _me_?) He couldn't stop thinking about how she had pushed him off of her when they were on that crab, how she had often been ignoring him lately. The thought just made him hit Crocodile even harder.

During the fight, Luffy was scratched by the poison hook a few times, but in the end, he killed Crocodile. He launched Crocodile into the air and shouted, "GOMU GOMU NO... STORM!" It was a lot like Gomu Gomu Gatling Gun, except he was throwing punches upward at Crocodile. He was literally punching Crocodile upward through the ground. The stone ceiling broke... Crocodile's limp body kept going further and further up through the ground... He was long dead, but Luffy didn't stop punching him...

Eventually, Crocodile's body broke the surface of the ground. His body went flying into the air and landed in a bloody, broken heap in the middle of Alubarna Square.

The Straw Hats had found the bomb by now and taken care of it. They saw Crocodile's body go flying into the air and fall back down.

"HE WON!" they all cheered at the top of their lungs. Vivi, however, was still silent. Her people were still fighting... Silent tears were streaming down her horrified face.

Eventually, members of the two Armies started to notice that Crocodile, their hero, was laying dead on the ground. The whole battle came to a slow stop. "Crocodile-san..." some started to whisper in disbelief.

Vivi grinned and wiped her tears. The battle was over; Luffy had come through for her, just like she knew he would.

* * *

"Vivi!" a familiar voice called excitedly.

Vivi was sitting in the throne room with her father. She was very happy indeed. The country still needed to be rebuilt, but the Crocodile was dead and the fighting had stopped. It has been three days since that faithful day.

Vivi's caretaker, Igaram, came running into the room. "Vivi!" he called again. "Luffy-san is awake!"

The two of them ran to the infirmary. Luffy was sitting up in bed and looking around in despair. "My hat, my hat!" he cried. "Food, food!" Sanji handed him his hat. Zoro sighed and shook his head. "Why do you have to be so damn loud when you wake up?"

Luffy was shocked when he found out he had been sleeping for three days straight. "THREE DAYS?" he exclaimed. "I've missed 15 meals!" Everyone laughed.

They had a huge feast in the grand dining room. The Straw Hats were extremely rambunctious and noisy. The members of the royal guard were appalled at first, but soon they joined in the fun and laughed with everyone else. After all, it was a day to celebrate.

After dinner, the King, Igaram, Vivi, and the Straw Hat Crew went to the royal bath to... well... bathe. The boys were on one side of the giant wall and the two girls were on the other.

Vivi was scrubbing Nami's back. They had temporarily forgotten about Luffy and were happily talking to each other again like they used to before their feelings for Luffy had developed.

"We're gonna have to leave soon, Vivi..." "What!" Vivi gasped. "So soon?" "Well, yeah," Nami replied. "The Marines are still after us. We have to stay on the move." She smirked. "We _are_ pirates, after all." They were silent for a moment. "Okay, let's switch," said Nami happily, taking the wash cloth from Vivi and getting behind her. Nami unwrapped the towel from Vivi's body, threw it out of the bath, and started scrubbing her back.

They heard an urgent voice from the other side of the wall. It was Igaram. "Vivi!" he called. "You have a visitor. He says you know him." Vivi got up and looked at Nami in surprise. Nami shrugged. Vivi started to walk out of the bath when Nami suddenly giggled. "Uh, Vivi... you might want to get your towel first..."

Vivi blushed the deepest crimson Nami had ever seen and hastily wrapped her towel around her body again and hurried out of the huge room to get dressed and meet this visitor of hers.

However, as soon as she closed the door behind her, she saw him already waiting for her in the hallway. She gasped and pulled her towel more tightly around her body. She took a step back...

**Who is it, who is it, who is it? Ha ha, you will have to wait until next time! Man, I sure feel stupid about that spoiler thing... Oh, well. I will not make that mistake again. : P**


	15. Dealing With The Pain

Chapter 14 – Dealing With The Pain

**A little warning before we start: there is some lime in this chapter. Can you guess who it will be between? Lol. **

**Rap-Masta- Yeah, I know it is really obvious, but we rebels do not really care. : )**

**Wild Gamer- She will join at the end of the story. And I will send you an email explaining the best way to get One Piece episodes. That is, if you have not figured it out already. : P**

**karen12- Whew! I am relieved. I was hoping that was what people were thinking about the spoilers. You cannot really tell, can you? And as for Zoro/Tashigi... not until the sequel. ; )**

**Enula- Oh, cool, how was your vacation? And thanks for all the compliments!**

**Realsmartz- Yay! I feel proud! I have inspired you! Lol, glad to hear it. ;) **

**Dust-in- Do not worry... You will see soon enough...**

**Aztec Goddess- Yes, it is! You read my mind! Lol. No, I know it was really obvious. Trust me, if I wanted to truly surprise the readers, I would. But I do not see a need to yet!**

**Lipana- Yeah, I know, but I just did not feel like going into that. Plus, it would be just more unnecessary spoiling for those who still want to read this. : P**

**sara haruko takenouchi kamiya- Yeah, I really hope it ends well, too! Thanks for having so much faith in me!**

**

* * *

**  
"W-what are you doing here...?"

"I told you I would come visit you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, when you weren't busy... Wait! Does that mean... you found Blackbeard?"

"No, but I found another clue, and it just so happens that following it made me come past this island again..." said Ace, finally turning around to look at her. He had had his back to her until now. His freckled face broke out into a big, almost arrogant grin. "Miss me?"

Vivi turned her face away. "Well, yeah. We have all missed you, especially Luffy."

Ace chuckled. "You know what I mean."

Vivi sighed and looked at him again. His smile faded when he saw the grave expression on her face. He had expected her to be overjoyed to see him... "Come on," she said. "I have to get changed. Walk with me to my room."

The two of them started walking to her room wordlessly. Ace walked close behind her, constantly turning his head in different directions to take in the beauty of the palace. He really seemed genuinely interested. As they went up another flight of stairs, Vivi spoke up. "So, really... what are you here for?"

She turned and saw the frown on his face. "To visit. Nothing more. And, well... I _do _have something to say to you."

Vivi already started feeling happier. (Is he going to tell me he likes me? Or maybe he'll compliment me on saving Arabasta... a job well done... Hee hee! Or maybe he is just going to apologize for abandoning us like that? Either way... I'm glad he's here!)

"Well, Vivi... I am sorry that you have fallen in love with me. It's hopeless."

If there was one thing Vivi thought he was going to say, _that_ never would have been it. She couldn't believe he just came here to tell her that! She froze for a moment and then turned to glare at him. "Oh. Is that all?"

"Yeah," Ace sighed. "I mean, look, you didn't know who I really am. Truthfully, I am just too-"

"Too what? Too _good _for me?" she suddenly shouted. "You are a _jerk_! I was expecting something a _little_ nicer. I was expecting at least a little concern about my well-being! I almost died at the hands of a Shichibukai, for God's sake!"

"Um... no need for a pity party..." said Ace.

"PITY PARTY?" she positively screamed. Ace quickly ran the length of the stairs. He watched her from the safety of the upper landing. "Oi, oi, I was just kidding! How did this conversation turn so bad so quickly?" he asked. (Hmmm... must be that time of the month again...) he thought dryly.

"Because you _made_ this conversation go bad!" she said angrily. "I mean, I could understand that you would want to talk about it, but right away like that? You think I've just been worrying about you, about how much I _want_ you? No! I just saved my people from a horrible crisis! I think _that _was more of a priority than being lovesick over you!" "Um, could you please just let me fin-?" "AND, for your information, I'm over you! I like someone else!"

Ace sighed again and shook his head. "Back off, will ya?" "No, I will not!" she retorted. "Anger and frustration have been building up in my chest for quite some time now. It's not _my_ problem if you're the one who triggered its release upon yourself!"

"No, not _me_," said Ace, waving his hands frantically. "I mean Luffy; back off of Luffy."

She froze at that comment. Her eyes went wide in horror as she stared at him. "Why...?" she was able to whisper.

Ace frowned and tilted his head. "You didn't know? Wow, I thought you were a smart girl... He and Nami are together. And it looks to me like they've been since before coming here."

Vivi just stood there in shock for a little while longer. Then she bowed her head so her wet hair covered her eyes in shadow. "I hate liars... Don't lie to me, Ace..." "I'm not," he said, almost feeling sorry for the princess.

"But Nami..." she breathed, "...Nami would never lie to me."

Ace laughed. "Are you sure about that? From what Luffy told me about her, she would seem to be the _most_ likely crew member to deceive you."

"Shut up," she said quietly. She pointed behind her to the bottom of the stairs. "Go."

Ace raised an eyebrow. "Can I at least see the oth-?" "No," she interrupted him. "Go, now. I don't know if I should believe you, but I do know this: Arabasta and its people have just been saved, and this should be a joyous, carefree time for celebration. I do not want you here ruining that." "Hey, I'm not ruin-" he started to say defensively, but once again, he was interrupted. "Go!" she said a bit loudly. He wordlessly started to walk down the stairs. He turned to make sure that she wasn't going to attack him or something. However, he ended up tripping over his own feet and tumbling down the stairs. She didn't respond. He slowly got up, rubbing his head, and looking at her one last time, went down the rest of the stairs and left.

Vivi listened to his footsteps as he went further down. Eventually, she couldn't hear them anymore. However, she didn't move. She just stood there rigid as a board, looking down at her feet and holding back tears.

After what seemed like an eternity, she heard footsteps above her. She looked up at the landing to see an Arabastan royal guard walking down the stairs. He stopped. "Princess Vivi... What are you doing here?"

"Who, me? Nothing!" she replied very quickly. She gave him a very forced smile as she continued to walk up the stairs and to her bedroom.

"Sure you don't need anything, your Highness?" asked the guard, bewildered. "No, that's okay," replied Vivi. "I just want some clothes right now." She forced another smile and was soon out of the guard's sight as she reached the top of the stairs.

* * *

Nami sighed contentedly and sank lower into the water. Ah, this was bliss... Nami personally felt that she deserved this the most, besides Vivi, of course. Nami thought about how all the guys were much better than her at fighting. She assumed that she had had the roughest time fighting Miss Doublefinger. Not only did Nami actually have to fight someone, she had to do it by herself _and _she had to fight one of the top 2 agents in all of Baroque Works. (Well, Usopp's no better than I am,) she thought. (But at least he had Chopper with him. When that reindeer gets serious with that Rumble Ball, he can be just as strong as Sanji or Zoro...) She shivered uncontrollably as she recalled some of the more painful moments of her battle against Miss Doublefinger. She instinctively rubbed her injured foot with her other foot. One of the female agent's needles had stabbed her foot all the way through... It was among the most painful things she had ever gone through. She suddenly chuckled as she recalled stabbing Luffy in the forehead with a needle one time..._**Quick Flashback**_

**"STOP BEING STUPID!" Nami shouts. She takes the sewing needle she's using to patch Luffy's hat and stabs Luffy in the forehead with it.**

"**OW! What was _that _for?" Luffy yells, gingerly rubbing the tiny bloody hole in his forehead.**

"**It's the only way I can hurt you!" she says in a frustrated tone of voice as she goes back to fixing his hat. He tilts his head to the side. "Oh, yeah. You're right, aren't you?" He laughed. **

_**End Flashback**_

Strangely enough, that was one of Nami's fondest memories of being with the Straw Hat Crew.

Her reminiscing was interrupted by voices from the other side of the wall.

"All right, we've been here a long time, let's go." "Yeah, I'm bored!" "And I'm hungry!" "I just wanna go to sleep..." "NAMI-SWAAAAN! VIVI-CHAAAAAN! We're leeeeaving! Would you like me to scrub your back one last time? Perhaps I can help you dry off...?"

Nami shook her head. "Pathetic..." she said to herself. "I'll be right there, guys!" she called over the wall. "And Vivi already left!"

The room got quiet. Nami sighed and stood up. She was about to get out of the bath and get her towel, when-

"GOMU GOMU NO ROCKET!"

Luffy came flying over the huge wall dividing the two baths. Nami squealed in embarrassment and anger as she quickly tried to cover herself with her arms and sink back into the water. When she was sure only her head was visible, she glared at him. "What the _hell_ are you...?" She stopped in mid-sentence as she took a good look at Luffy. He was standing in front of the hot tub and facing Nami. He was also butt-naked.

"GAH! Would you... cover yourself or something?" Nami yelled as she averted her eyes. Luffy tilted his head to the side. "Huh? I didn't think you would care. It didn't look like you would've cared that night on the Going Merry..." "Yeah, well, I was just in the heat of the moment!" Nami retorted. "Do you even understand what that means?" Luffy chuckled as he stretched his arm out to grab Nami's towel and wrap it around his waist. "Nope, and I don't really care, either."

Nami turned to face Luffy again. He sat down on the edge of the hot tub. He idly kicked his feet in the water. Nami double-checked to make sure Luffy couldn't see any more than her head and then she glared at him. "What do you want?" "I just wanna talk," Luffy replied. "Well, okay," said Nami, "but do we have to do it here? I mean, there are... um... a lot of less uncomfortable places to talk." Luffy shook his head in response. "No, I'll forget if I wait too long. You know that."

Nami didn't like it. She couldn't really understand why she felt so uncomfortable being naked in front of Luffy, especially since he couldn't even see anything below her head.

"Nami," he said innocently, "why don't you like me anymore?"

Nami's eyes went wide in surprise. "What? What makes you think that?" She just didn't feel like talking to Luffy at the moment. She felt... angry with him all of a sudden.

"You've been treating me differently," he continued. "You don't talk to me. You only talk to me when we're alone."

"Well, Luffy, I don't want anyone getting suspicious."

"I don't care what other people think," said Luffy a bit angrily, "and neither should you! So I'm guessing that's why you shoved me off you on that crab-thing?"

Now Nami was really angry. "_Yes_, Luffy, that's _exactly_ why!" she retorted. "And don't you start telling me what I should or shouldn't do. You have _no_ right to tell me what to do and you never will! I don't care if you're the captain or not; the only time I will always listen to you is when you are making decisions on what the crew should be doing. That's it! If I don't want the others to find out about us, deal with it! That's my personal decision! In my opinion, it's only gonna work between us if we keep it a secret. Don't tell me otherwise just because it's inconvenient for you!" "But, Nami-" "And what is that wasn't even the reason I pushed you off me? What if I just didn't _want_ to cuddle with you at the time? Hmmm? I'm not always in the mood for it, you know. You better not think you can just force me to do anything to do anything with you just because it would make you happy!"

"Hey, Nami, calm down. Why are you so mad all of a sudden?"

"Why do you care?" she demanded. "What's it to _you_ if I'm angry? I have a right to be angry whenever I want, too!"

Luffy was starting to get very upset. Why was she yelling at him like this? What had he done wrong? He was so confused and upset.

Nami was confusing herself, too. Why was she exploding on poor Luffy like this? Perhaps she was venting anger...? But if that was the case, what was she truly angry about?

(Well, I know I'm angry at myself for lying to Vivi,) thought Nami. (I even vowed to myself that I would tell her the truth after the whole crisis was over... It's been over for _three days_ now and I still haven't told her! So do I really have a reason to be angry at _Luffy_ here? ... Well, yeah! He's being a jerk!)

She finished her thought out loud.

"Luffy, why are you being such a jerk?"

"Huh?"

"You heard me! You don't just come flying over the bathroom wall to see me and expect me to perfectly happy with the fact that we're both completely naked! As much as you think it's okay, it's not; it's very rude! It's called invasion of privacy!"

"Um-"

"Hey, I am _not_ finished yet!" she snapped before he could say anything. "Not only did you invade my privacy, you did so to talk to me about the most asinine thing in the world! You came here to complain about how I don't smother you with love and affection every waking moment of my life! There are other things I have to worry about, Luffy. I might say that I love you, but that doesn't mean that you're the only important thing in my life!"

"Nami, I know that..."

"Yeah? Then start _acting_ like you know it!"

Luffy's eyes were intently fixed upon Nami's angry, yet beautiful face. He sadly shook his head. "Nami... why are you so angry? Something else has you pissed off, I _know _it..."

"God _damn_ it, Luffy, why do you have to be so stupid?" she yelled. "Why can't you accept the fact that you don't always make your friends happy? Sometimes, you can _really_ piss us off! No, Luffy, I'm angry because of _you_. Just deal with it." She knew deep down that she was not angry because of Luffy. She was angry with herself, and she was taking it out on poor Luffy.

However, Nami did not care how badly she was hurting Luffy at the moment. Not even caring anymore about how much of her Luffy was seeing uncovered, she got out of the bath, stormed over to him, ripped the towel off his waist, wrapped it around her own body, and stormed out of the gigantic bathing room.

Luffy was utterly speechless as she watched her leave. He didn't even care that he just saw a completely naked girl for the first time in his life, which he had had come to believe would be one of the most amazing moments of his life.

What had just happened? He had no idea what he did to make Nami explode like that. Luffy just couldn't believe that he could make someone _that_ pissed off at him. Something in the back of his mind kept telling him that she didn't mean to treat him like that, that something else was bothering her. However, he was feeling too hurt to listen.

He Gomu Gomu Rocket-ed himself back over to the boys' side of the bathing room, dried himself off, got dressed, and left the room moping. He came out into the corridor. He could either turn right or left. He looked in both directions with extreme disinterest. He couldn't remember which way he had come from, but he really didn't care, either. He decided to go right.

He came to a corner and turned right there. He came to yet another corner and turned right there, too. He walked past a door. He looked at it. It was the entrance to the girls' side of the bathing room. He scratched his head, or rather the top of his straw hat, and just kept on moving forward.

He came upon a flight of stairs. He sighed as he looked up the stairs. He felt so depressed...

"Up is good," he mumbled miserably to himself.

He found another flight of stairs at the top and a door. He decided to keep going up. His pace quickened at the thought of leftovers from the feast they had had earlier. He went up quite a few floors before the stairs finally stopped. He had reached the top of the palace. There was just one door. He went through it.

When he saw that the door only brought him to another nondescript corridor he moaned in despair. "Stupid palace..." he muttered. He looked to his left. There, at the end of the hallway, was a really big, old-looking, ornate door. "Cool," he mumbled without enthusiasm. Then a hopeful thought suddenly struck him. "Maybe there's some meat in there..." he said with some enthusiasm.

He walked over to the ornate door and opened it without even knocking.

* * *

Vivi was looking at herself in the mirror hanging over her dresser as she absently brushed her hair. She felt so depressed despite the fact that her country had recently been saved. She would get over it soon, though. As soon as she got Ace completely out of her mind, everything would be okay again...

She stopped brushing her hair. It was finally dry and it looked nice. She took off her towel and changed into a simple white gown. She sat down on her bed and sighed. "Maybe I should go see if everyone's out of the bath yet..." she said to herself.

That was when Luffy suddenly burst into her room.

"Luffy!" Vivi gasped. "W-what are you doing here?"

Luffy didn't respond at first. He looked around the room, and then his head suddenly drooped in disappointment. "Oh, it's just you," he said sullenly, pouting.

Vivi frowned at his words. "What, you're not happy to see me?" she asked. (Why is he so upset to see me in my own bedroom...?) she thought in bewilderment.

"Oh, sorry, Vivi," he apologized, sounding slightly more cheerful. "I didn't know this was your room. I just thought there would be some meat in here. Guess I was wrong." He smiled sheepishly.

Vivi giggled. She then took a good look at his face. Her eyes widened as she looked into his eyes. They were filled with such a deep sadness, Vivi suddenly felt very sorry for him.

"Hey," she said gently. "What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. I'm just really sad."

" 'Just really sad'? Well, Luffy, that certainly isn't nothing!" She forced a cheerful smile as she patted her bed, inviting Luffy to sit next to her. He obliged. He sulked as he sat next to her in silence.

"Come on, Luffy," Vivi said bracingly. "Tell me what's bothering you. I can tell you really are very sad." He didn't answer. "Go on," Vivi pressed on. "You'll feel better after you talk about it."

"You're sad, too," he said suddenly, turning his head to look at her. "What's wrong?"

Vivi was about to answer when an idea suddenly struck her. "Listen, tell me what's upsetting you first, and then I will tell you what's upsetting me. Does that sound fair?"

Luffy didn't even bother to convey his agreement. "It's Nami," he started. "She hurt me."

"What?" Vivi gasped. "What do you mean? What did she do?"

"Well, when everyone left the bathing room, I visited Nami on the other side of the wall. She got mad 'cause we were both naked or something like that. She asked me what's wrong, I told her that she hasn't been treating me the same around the others. She said she wanted to keep our relationship a secret, I told her that was stupid, and then she just kinda exploded."

"Wait," Vivi interrupted. "What relationship?" Then Ace's words started echoing in her mind...

_"You didn't know? Wow, I thought you were a smart girl... He and Nami are together. And it looks to me like they've been since before coming here."_

"Oh, yeah," said Luffy. "Nami was probably trying to keep it a secret from you, too... We're together. We even kissed on the boat one night. It was amazing..." His voice trailed off as he thought back to the kiss he had shared with Nami.

Tears of anger and hurt started to form in Vivi's eyes. "I don't believe it," she breathed. "Nami really _did _lie to me..." "She did?" asked Luffy, surprised. "Yes," Vivi replied. "When we were on that crab... after you left to fight Crocodile... I asked Nami if you she and you were together. She told me 'no'."

"See what I mean?" said Luffy. "She hasn't been very nice lately, has she?" "No..." Vivi agreed thoughtfully, "...no, she hasn't..."

They sat in silence for a little while as Vivi furiously wiped the tears out of her eyes. She refused to cry in front of Luffy again.

"Well?" said Luffy expectantly. "What's bothering _you_?"

Vivi looked at him in surprise again. She had forgotten their little deal. Nami's lie had driven it out of her mind.

"It's your brother, Ace," she explained quietly.

It was Luffy's turn to be surprised. "Ace? What about him?"

"Well, I don't know if you noticed," she continued, "but the two of us... um... kind of had something going on. Or, at least, I thought we had..." "Something going on?" Luffy repeated, confused. "Like what, a party?" Vivi blinked at him, then burst into giggles. "Oh, Luffy, you are so funny... No, we had something going on like you and Nami." "Oh, yeah!" he said. "Now I remember. We all saw how upset you got when he left... Did you two kiss and stuff?" She nodded. "Heh," Luffy chuckled. "I can't believe he didn't tell me."

Vivi went into detail. She told Luffy all about the conversations that had taken place between her and Ace. She told Luffy about her conflicting feelings. She was surprised to find out that he already knew about her feelings for him. Unlike Nami, Vivi did not know about Sanji's part in the whole thing. Luffy didn't even bother telling her about it. There was no need.

Vivi kept going. She started to tell Luffy about Ace's surprise visit that had happened not too long ago. However, at this point, Luffy was barely listening to her anymore... He was too busy staring at her lips...

Luffy suddenly found himself wondering what those lips would taste like. He never got to find out since he had no idea what to do when she first tried to kiss him. He once again thought back to his kiss with Nami. He wanted to know what it would be like to kiss Vivi like that. He kept watching her lips... They glistened in the lamplight as they continually moved up and down while she was explaining her problem with Ace. He was starting to find her more and more irresistible...

(What the hell is going on?) he thought wildly. His heart was still aching from his encounter with Nami... The pain started to come back in full force. Judging by Vivi's tears, she was currently feeling just as hurt as him. She finally stopped talking. She smiled as she sniffled and wiped her tears. "I'm sorry, Luffy, I'm trying hard not to cry here..." she said softly, giving a little giggle.

"It's... okay," he mumbled distractedly. It was undeniable to him now... He wanted her. In just a matter of minutes, his feelings for her went from nakama to lover. But they weren't the same feelings as the ones for Nami...

"Luffy?" Vivi asked, frowning. "Are you okay?"

Luffy slowly raised a hand to her face. He gently stroked her cheek. Her eyes went wide in shock. "Luffy, what are you-?"

"I just... I just wanna..." he muttered. "What?" Vivi whispered in confusion. Luffy didn't say anything in response. His free hand came up to take the other side of her face. Vivi thought her heart was about to pound through her chest... He pulled her in for a kiss.

Their lips met and parted pretty quickly. Vivi licked her lips and pulled Luffy in for another kiss. Their tongues met and it quickly became a very fierce and passionate kiss. It was much more intense than the one Luffy had shared with Nami... He and Vivi were quickly finding it extremely hard to breathe. She moaned into his mouth. The images suddenly came back to Luffy's mind... However, instead of disturbing him, they were exciting him this time, encouraging him to go further.

It all happened so fast, especially for Luffy. Before he even knew it, he was on top of Vivi, hungrily tugging at her bra as she was throwing his boxers off the bed. He knew deep down inside that this was very bad, that he was meant to be with Nami, not Vivi... However, his immediate instinct was telling him to ease the pain in his heart and that doing this with Vivi was currently the best way to do so. Plus, his hormones weren't exactly helping.

She helped him take off her bra. It joined the pile of clothes on the floor at the foot of her bed. He bent his head down and kissed her again, his hot tongue vigorously plunging into her mouth. They momentarily broke apart to breathe. (This is my chance...) Vivi thought desperately. (Right here is where I need to stop this... This isn't right. I mustn't let him cheat on Nami like this. I have to tell him to stop...)

However, all Vivi heard from her breathless voice was, "Luffy... the door... still open..."

Without taking his eyes off her, he stretched his arm across the room and shut the door. "Now what?" he asked, almost completely out of breath. Vivi couldn't stop herself. She told him exactly what to do next.

He went down the length of her body and pulled her thong off. He threw it off the bed and straddled her. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. She looked into his eyes again. They were hungry and needing... but behind that she could still see the deep sadness. "Okay, Luffy, I'm ready..." she whispered.

This was it... Neither of them could stop it now...

* * *

"Nami-saaan, what's the matter?" Sanji asked adoringly. "Why do you look so down? But not to worry! I am here to cheer you up!"

Nami sighed. "Not now..." she said quietly. She looked around the room. Usopp was telling Chopper wild and obviously false tales about his grand adventures. Chopper listened with bated breath, stars in his eyes as he stared at the liar in amazement and admiration. Zoro was doing one-finger pushups with a large sofa balanced on his back, sweat pouring down his face as he softly counted. "1,378... 1,379..." Luffy and Vivi weren't in the room.

Making sure no one was listening, she whispered to Sanji, "It's Luffy."

Sanji looked at her in surprise. "What-?" he began kind of loudly. She quickly covered his mouth with the palm of her hand, shushing him. "Sanji-kun, not so loud!" she hissed. He barely took notice. Her hand was touching his lips. She saw the look on his face and quickly withdrew her hand.

"I took out my anger on him..." she whispered. "I lied to Vivi about our my relationship with him, and I've been angry with myself ever since. I finally exploded on poor Luffy... I'm afraid I really hurt him... I really did say some very harsh stuff to him. He didn't deserve it."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Sanji whispered. "So, what, you want me to find him for you?"

She thought about it, and then nodded. "Yeah, good idea. You search around the palace. He's probably around wherever there's food." Sanji laughed. "Yeah, I had already guessed that myself."

"While you look for him," she continued in an undertone, "I'm going to go find Vivi. I need to tell her the truth before anything else. The guilt is really killing me..."

So, Nami and Sanji went off in different directions to find Luffy and Vivi.

Nami soon ran into a royal guard. "Excuse me," she said politely. "Do you know where Princess Vivi is?"

"Yeah, I just saw her recently," the guard said, frowning. "She looked really stressed out about something... She was headed to her bedroom."

He gave Nami directions on how to reach Vivi's room. She thanked him and quickly walked to find the staircase that led up to Vivi's room.

She soon found it. She went up 6 floors before finally reaching the top. There was one door. She opened it and looked to her left. There was the ornate door the guard had described to her. She approached it and lifted her hand to knock...

Nami froze as she heard noises coming from the other side of the door. She recognized those noises... She prayed to God that it wasn't who she thought it was...

Her face pale, her eyes wide in terror at the prospect of seeing what was going on in that room, she slowly opened the door...

**All right, I really try not to be hard on myself, but this did not come out as well as I thought it would. A majority of the chapter was so... boring. Anyway, I hope I slightly surprised all of you with that lime part in the end and who was in it. How many of you expected it to be Luffy and Vivi? I guess that was pretty obvious, too, but whatever! So, yeah... until next time!**


	16. Epic Battle: Luffy vs Sanji!

Chapter 15 – Epic Battle: Luffy vs. Sanji!

**Review time!**

**Daikaio - Wow, let me tell you, it was really hard for me to tell who you want Luffy to be with. : P lol. Another big LuffyxNami fan. Cool! Thanks for all the reviews. Oh yeah, and Chopper is my second favorite character, too. : )**

**BlackBlaze - Awww, do not cry. lol. I am glad you are enjoying this so much!**

**karen12 - Yeah, you are right about the boredom thing. Very good point! And as to why they were PMSing... Well, they were both really angry, and both of them had had negative feelings building up for a pretty long time. They finally just lost it.**

**WildGamer - Okay, in case you have not figured it out yet... You need a program to download bittorrents. Go to bitlord dot com for a good one. Then go to kaizoku-fansubs dot com to get the One Piece episodes. They come in groups of ten, so you need to watch how much you are downloading and how much space you have on your hard drive. Go to the Bitlord forums if you want to find out how to make the downloads go faster. Tell me if you have any problems or questions. And I am really glad you like my Pokemon fic! **

A whole lot of thoughts and ideas rushed into Nami's head at once as she entered the room. Many of them involved the bloody, gory murder of Luffy and Vivi right there in Vivi's bedroom. However, she couldn't... do anything. She just froze at the sight of Luffy and Vivi together in bed. Why...? _Why_ did she have to walk in while they were in the middle of it? Why couldn't she just have waited until those... noises subsided? All rational thought had left her mind as she had been approaching the door. And now, staring at the site before her, her mind was completely numb.

Neither Luffy nor Vivi noticed their audience. Luffy was not facing the door, and Vivi's eyes were closed. However, after a few agonizingly long moments, Vivi slightly opened one of her eyes as she arched her back in pleasure. Her eyes shot open in wild fear as she caught site of the speechless Nami in her doorway. She quickly shoved Luffy off of her.

"Whoa!" Luffy exclaimed as he nearly fell off the bed. "What's the matter?"

Nami noted how out of breath he sounded, and how flushed and sweaty they both were. Her brain was still numb, but the tiniest traces of anger started to creep in...

Vivi quickly threw the bedcover over Luffy and wrapped the sheet around herself. "N-Nami..." she stuttered.

"Nami?" said Luffy, confused, as he pulled the cover off his head. He looked towards the doorway, too. Instead of being surprised or scared, his eyes merely darkened as he calmly said, "Ah. Nami."

"Luffy…" Nami croaked. "How... how _could_ you…?"

"How could I what?" he replied coolly. He seemed to be completely unperturbed by the sudden intrusion.

Vivi was looking wide-eyed at Nami, then at Luffy, then at Nami again. She felt so terrible all of a sudden. (Luffy and Nami... belong together.)

"Ah, Nami-san, you came up here, too?"

Vivi gasped in horror as she heard Sanji's footsteps come closer to her doorway.

"What's the matter, Nami-san? Why are you so still? What's going on in-? ...Ah."

Sanji's face became visible as he looked over Nami's shoulder. He, too, seemed unaffected by the scene. He calmly took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and chuckled darkly. "Man, Luffy, you sure fucked things up this time..."

"Hm? I did?" asked Luffy, tilting his head and frowning. "How so?"

"Wait," Vivi suddenly interrupted. She was staring at Sanji in disbelief. "You... knew...?" She scowled as a wave of sudden anger washed over her. "How many other people know, huh, Nami? The whole crew? Why couldn't _I _know? You... you... goddamn liar!"

Nami's mind was no longer numb as she looked at Vivi in disbelief. "You... _you're_ angry?" She gave a cold, chilling laugh. "Vivi, you have no right to be angry right now. You knew about me and Luffy... and you fucked him anyway?"

Vivi hissed in anger. "Watch your mouth," she snarled.

"NO!" Nami suddenly screamed, causing everyone to jump. "I came here to apologize to you, _Princess_!" She started advancing the bed as she reached down the front of her shirt and took out her folded Clima Tact. "No, Nami-san!" exclaimed Sanji. He grabbed the back of her shirt to keep her from getting any further. "Please... fighting isn't going to solve anything!"

"Let GO, Sanji-kun!" Nami yelled. His grip on the back of her shirt was too strong. She stopped struggling and glared at Vivi. "I came here to say sorry! I didn't want to tell you the truth when you asked me because I thought you had a bit too much on your plate already! Maybe it was wrong for me to lie, but for you to... do this with Luffy, even though you knew...!"

Before Vivi could respond, Luffy calmly said, "Nami, I am the one you should be mad at, not Vivi."

Nami suddenly lost all anger as she stared in disbelief at the man she thought she loved. "Wha...?"

"I am the one who started it," Luffy finished.

Nami simply dropped down on her knees. Her Clima Tact made a muffled clanging noise as it hit the carpeted floor beside her. She sat on the floor and continued to stare at Luffy. "Luffy... why? I... I wanted to say sorry to you, too..." (I never even dreamed he would do this...! I just assumed that Vivi took advantage of his depression and seduced him...)

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Everyone except Nami looked at the doorway. Zoro was standing there. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "My, my. What happened here?" He turned his head, cupped his hands around his mouth, and called, "Usopp! Chopper! I found them!"

"No...!" Vivi whispered in horror.

As Usopp and Chopper rushed to the scene, Sanji calmly gazed at Luffy. "Get up and get dressed." His voice was as calm as his gaze.

Luffy raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and got up. Everyone except Nami turned away. She was still lost in thought and was oblivious to what was going on. He got his jean shorts on. He was about to pick up his vest beside the bed when...

WHAM.

Blood flew out of Luffy's mouth and he went flying through the wall. Vivi screamed. Sanji lowered his foot back to the ground and gave Luffy a cold stare as he waited for his captain to get back up.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" Zoro bellowed as he drew a sword.

"Stop," Sanji said quietly. "Not now, Zoro. This is a fight between me and Luffy... Don't you dare interrupt it."

At this point, Luffy had gotten back up. He was covered with dust and rubble from the broken wall. Zoro looked from Sanji to Luffy, then shrugged and sheathed his sword. "Fine."

"Wait!" cried Usopp. "Why?" "Yeah, what the hell is going on?" cried Chopper who was now cowering behind Usopp.

Vivi got up out of bed and, clutching her sheet tight around her body, scampered over to the other side of the room with the others. She looked on in fright. Nami was still not responding to anything.

"I will never forgive you," Sanji said in a deadly quiet voice. "Luffy... I told you about breaking hearts. I _told_ you it was the worst kind of pain there is. How _dare_ you break Nami-san's heart? And you said you love her... YOU DISGUST ME!"

Luffy's face remained impassive as Sanji aimed a kick at his chest. He sidestepped it. They both stood still as they stared each other down.

"Sanji..." said Luffy. "I don't want to fight you. You don't know the whole story..."

"Yes, I do!" Sanji yelled. "Nami-san told me to find you so she could apologize to you for the things she said! I told you that night... having faith in your lover and staying strong during rough times are extremely important! And you give up after one argument? Why did I even bother to try and help you? God... I can't BELIEVE YOU!" He charged Luffy again.

This time, Luffy caught his foot. Sanji gasped. "How...?"

Luffy glared at him. "Don't talk like you know my feelings! And NEVER say that I don't have faith in my nakama! Especially the one nakama I love!"

"Well, I don't have faith in my captain anymore!" retorted Sanji.

Luffy's eyes went wide in rage. "THEN LEAVE MY CREW! YOU DON'T BELONG WITH US ANYMORE IF YOU DON'T HAVE FAITH IN YOUR NAKAMA!" He tightened his grip on Sanji's foot, swung him around, and threw him out Vivi's window. Glass flew everywhere as the large window overlooking Alubarna shattered. Sanji plummeted down and Luffy jumped through the window after him.

"LUFFY-SAN!" Vivi screamed. "SANJI-SAN!"

Nami finally snapped out of her reverie. The last thing she wanted was a full-blown fight between Luffy and Sanji. Just like Sanji had said, it would only make things worse. Vivi quickly ran out of the room and tore down the stairs. Everyone else ran to keep up with her. No one could believe what they had just witnessed...

Sanji got up. He and Luffy had landed on one of the many lower roofs of the palace. They glared at each other. Luffy attacked first. He started running toward Sanji and his arms stretched out far behind him.

"GOMU GOMU NO BAZOOKA!"

Sanji jumped up and landed on Luffy's outstretched arms. He ran up the length of his arms, pulled his foot back, and gave a straight upwards kick to the bottom of Luffy's chin. His head snapped back inhumanly far. Anyone else would have instantly died from that kick. As Luffy started flying back, he grabbed onto Sanji's leg. Sanji's eyes went wide with fear as Luffy took him along for the ride. They both went flying over the edge of the roof. In midair, Luffy's arm stretched out and bound Sanji's legs together like rope. He then stretched his arm upwards as far as he could. Sanji went flying up. He almost reached all the way up to the top of the huge palace when...

"GOMU GOMU NO SLEDGE HAMMER!"

Luffy swung his outstretched arm as hard as he could in a huge downwards arc. It felt like Sanji's stomach just flew out of his body as he suddenly started to fly down to the ground. Just a few moments ago, the ground was very far away; now the ground was growing very large VERY quickly as Sanji prepared himself to be slammed into it.

(This is bad.)

_**WHAM!**_

Sanji hit the ground facedown. He felt several ribs break as the ground beneath him crumbled from the impact. It made a small crater. A few seconds after he hit the ground, Luffy landed on the ground beside him. He stared down at Sanji, his eyes hidden in shadows of anger. Sanji slowly got up as the rest of the crew ran out of the palace.

"STOP!" Nami yelled.

Chopper gasped as he looked at Sanji's face. Blood was flowing freely from his forehead, nose, and mouth. He coughed and a little more blood came out of his mouth. He winced in pain and clutched his ribs. "Damn these ribs..." he growled.

"Not again!" Chopper cried in anguish. "Those ribs are going to sustain permanent damage if you keep getting injured like this! They might not ever fully heal!"

"I don't care..." Sanji breathed. "I... have to kill Luffy... for what he did to Nami-san..."

"Please, stop!" Nami yelled again. She grabbed Sanji's arm and looked at him imploringly.

Sanji couldn't defy Nami. He slumped down onto the ground and coughed a little more as he allowed Chopper to start treating him.

"What the hell is going on?"

Two royal guards came out. Vivi rushed over to them. "Please, don't worry," she said reassuringly with a smile. "Go back in, please."

"Princess-sama!" the other guard gasped. "What are you doing dressed only in a sheet...?"

"_Please_," she said more firmly. "Go inside. Don't let anyone else come out right now."

They reluctantly did as they were told. She rushed back over to the Straw Hats. Everyone except Luffy was standing around Chopper and Sanji. They were watching Sanji get treated.

Nami turned on Luffy, whose eyes were still veiled in shadow. Nami glared at him. "How could you do this to Sanji-kun?" she demanded angrily.

"It was a fight," he answered simply. "I always fight to win, no matter who my opponent is."

"But he's your nakama!" she yelled, tears flowing down her face now. "How could you? You know he still has faith in you and all his nakama! He was just really angry when he said that!"

Luffy finally raised his head. Nami was very surprised that there were tears in his eyes. "I know," he said. "I always screw everything up..."

And with that, he quickly strode back into the palace. Vivi started to go after him. "Wait, Luffy-san...!"

"Let him go," said Zoro.

She stopped and looked at the swordsman. "But... Mr. Bushido..."

"He needs to be alone right now," Zoro continued. "If anyone were to go in there and try to comfort him, things would only get worse."

Vivi silently nodded. She turned to look at Nami. The navigator's face was turned towards the ground. She had a heavy frown and silent tears continued to fall from her half-closed eyes. Vivi opened her mouth to say something comforting, but she thought better against it.

Chopper was finished cleaning the wounds and was preparing to wrap bandages around his patient. Usopp tore his eyes away from Sanji to look at Nami. He frowned. (How did everything fall apart so quickly like this?) the sharpshooter thought miserably. He walked over to Nami and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" he asked gently.

Nami shrugged his hand off her shoulder and walked past him, still staring resolutely at the ground. Everyone watched as she walked back toward the palace. "Wait, Nami!" called Usopp. "Luffy has to be left alone...!"

"I'm not going in to see Luffy," she said coldly without slowing down or turning her head to look at them.

"Then what are you doing?" Vivi asked before she could stop herself.

Nami's response was just as cold as her previous statement. "I want to be alone, too."

**So, what do you think so far? Good? Bad? Well, anyway, the next chapter is more than likely going to be the last chapter, so, yeah... Until next time!**


	17. Desperate Measures

Chapter 16 – Desperate Measures

**Well, I am afraid this is the final chapter. : ( Note its hugeness. It is over 10,000 words! Normally, I would divide this into two chapters, but I strongly believe that a good ending chapter needs to be extra long. And so here we go! **

**Reviews first!**

**Realsmartz - Yeah, time really does fly, huh? I mean, take the summer for example. This was the fastest summer of my life! I have school in less than a week! Gah!**

**Deblas - What is with me and my damn cliffhangers, you ask? Come on, you gotta admit; they make this story more enjoyable. : )**

**Daikaio - Hee hee, yep, poor Sanji... He got his ass handed to him by Luffy... Ah, Luffy is the greatest. He is my hero!**

**Enula - HOLY CRAP! The Navy? Well, I wish you much luck in the future, and I truly hope you enjoy reading this last chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. ; )**

**Aztec Goddess - Aw, it is okay! Work hard, eat right, and you, too, can become a successful mind reader! Lol.**

**karen12 - Everyone and their great grandmothers... Ha ha, lol, that is rich. ; ) And I am glad you enjoyed the action scene. Action/adventure has always been my true strength in writing because of my battle scene writing abilities, but I just had to try this romance thing out... Call me crazy, but it is pretty fun!**

**sara haruko takenouchi kamiya - Oh, my... I feel like much is being expected of me. I really hope this final chapter is not a let-down to you. : (**

**Dust-in - YES! DEATH TO 4KIDS! KILL, BURN, MAME, DESTROY! Mwahahahaha! (cough) Anyway... thanks for that battle scene compliment! I am proud of it, too. : )**

**WildGamer - LOL! That is SO funny! Your arms kept swinging? Lol! I do not know why but I burst out laughing when I read that review. I got a funny image of someone with their face really close to the screen, all wide-eyed, and swinging his arms from side to side like a monkey. Ah, so funny! Glad you like this so much! Like I said to sara, I really hope this chapter is not a let-down for you...**

**Okay... (deep breath) Here we go!**

**

* * *

**

Usopp couldn't decide what to do. After Luffy and Nami had gone back in the palace, the rest of the gang also went back in. Vivi went up to her room, Zoro went to the crew's provided guest room to continue training, and Chopper carried Sanji to the infirmary so he could continue treating him in peace. Usopp didn't know where Luffy and Nami had gone. He stood there in the main entrance corridor and sighed. Finally, he decided to go up to Vivi's room and see what he could do to help clean up the mess her shattered window had left behind.

When he got to the top floor, he saw that Vivi's bedroom door was wide open. He walked in.

Vivi was dressed in a plain white gown. She was sitting on the bed and watching a group of workers with an expressionless face. Igaram was sitting next to her. Some workers were cleaning up the glass and some were taking measurements of the window frame so they could replace the window as soon as possible. It seemed to Usopp that Vivi had already told Igaram what happened. He wondered if she had told her caretaker everything.

Vivi looked at Usopp. "Oh, hi, Usopp-san. Sorry, I didn't see you come in."

Usopp smiled as he walked over to the bed. "It's okay," he replied cheerfully. "Hey, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Thanks for the offer," Igaram answered, "but there is not much you can do. These workers have it covered."

Usopp nodded and sat down beside her. Igaram seemed to notice what was going on. He stood up. "Well, Vivi-sama, if everything is okay here, I have business elsewhere."

Vivi smiled up at Igaram warmly. "Okay. Thanks for everything."

Igaram left. Making sure that the workers weren't trying to eavesdrop, Usopp turned to Vivi. "He's not angry with any of us, is he?" he asked. "I mean, we can leave right away if he wants us to..." "No, no," responded Vivi quickly. "It's fine. No one is angry. I told them that Luffy-san and Sanji-san were playing around, and Luffy-san got a little too enthusiastic and threw Sanji-san out the window. Father and Igaram believed it since they know how strong and... hyper he is. Those two guards that saw what was really going on outside promised me they wouldn't say anything about the fight."

Vivi looked away and sighed. She looked so sad. Usopp felt bad for her. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked gently.

Vivi sighed. "I guess... I just feel awful right now. I feel like I caused all this..."

"No, no, Vivi, don't feel that way!" Usopp said bracingly. "Luffy, Nami, and Sanji all played parts in it, too. No one is to be singled out and blamed for what happened."

Vivi smiled. "I guess you're right. But still... I don't even belong in your crew. It seems all I have been doing is causing you guys trouble... First Baroque Works and now this..."

"Stop it," said Usopp firmly. "That is _not_ true. You will always be one of us. Whether you choose to come with us or stay here with your people, you will always be our nakama."

"Oh, Usopp-san!" she suddenly cried. She threw her arms around him and started sobbing into his shoulder. Sobbing was an understatement; she was positively bawling. Some of the workers turned to stare. Usopp awkwardly wrapped one arm around her and used his other hand to pat her gently on the head. "It's okay," he said, trying to sound reassuring. He knew this was good for her. She had needed to cry like this for some time now. Still, it was really uncomfortable for Usopp and he almost found himself wishing that Vivi would cry into someone else's shoulder. He scowled at the staring workers, silently telling them to step out of the room for a moment. They complied.

"I-I don't know what to d-d-do," she choked out, taking in shuddering breaths in between sobs. "I-I like you g-guys so much, b-b-but Arabasta needs m-me... Oh, Usopp-san, w-w-what should I do!" She started sobbing harder than ever.

Usopp patiently waited until her sobs subsided. The awkward moment ended as she let go of him, sniffling and repeatedly trying to dry her face with her hands. Usopp reached into his trusty bag and drew out a clean cloth. "Here," he offered. "Thanks," she accepted, taking the cloth and wiping her eyes and nose. She sighed and looked at Usopp's soaked shoulder. "Sorry about that..."

Usopp chuckled. "It's perfectly fine. You needed that, I'm sure. You feel better?" She nodded. "Yeah. Really, Usopp-san, thanks a lot. I'll think about my decision now. I'll get back to you guys as soon as possible."

Usopp took that as his cue to leave. He stood up and nodded. "All right. I won't try to pressure you into staying with us, but I know everyone would really like it if you did, despite everything that's happened..."

He turned to leave. As he walked out the door, the workers waiting outside her bedroom rushed back in to finish their job. Usopp sighed and decided to go to the infirmary and visit Sanji and Chopper.

* * *

Chopper finished changing the bandages around Sanji's head. The first set had gotten completely soaked through very quickly. The bleeding finally slowed down as he applied a paste made up of a special mixture of crushed herbs to the huge cut on the cook's forehead. Sanji sighed. "Thanks, Chopper," he said. Chopper nodded. "Your welcome. It's my job." 

Chopper left to allow Sanji to rest. He decided to go to the guest room to see if anybody was in there. He soon ran into Usopp.

"Oh, hi, Usopp," Chopper greeted with a smile.

"Ah, I was just coming down to see you," said Usopp. "How's Sanji?"

"He's fine, of course," replied Chopper. "You know how impossibly strong he is. He and Zoro never ate any Devil's Fruit, and yet they both heal at a miraculous pace..."

Usopp laughed. "That's for sure. They're too strong for their own good."

The two friends walked to the guest room together. Zoro was training on one side of the room, and Luffy was sitting and moping on the other side. Luffy didn't seem to notice the newcomers.

"Hey, do you think we should say something to him?" Usopp whispered to Chopper. The reindeer shook his head. "No, Zoro told us to leave him alone, remember?" he whispered back.

The two walked over to Zoro. Zoro paused his training as he looked at them. "So, what's going on?" the swordsman asked, wiping sweat out of his eyes. "When are we leaving? Is Vivi coming?"

Usopp shook his head. "I don't know the answer to any of those. I just talked to Vivi. She said she'd think about it."

Zoro raised an eyebrow as he looked at Usopp's soaked shoulder. "Um... was Vivi crying on your shoulder or did you accidentally walk sideways into a waterfall?"

"Har har," Usopp responded sarcastically. "Yes, she cried into my shoulder, and I'll have you know it was very uncomfortable for me."

Zoro laughed at him. Chopper couldn't help himself; he joined in. (That _is_ pretty pathetic,) the little doctor thought to himself as he laughed.

* * *

Igaram was sitting in the king's private library and sipping coffee. He looked out the window and smiled. "Monkey D. Luffy..." he said to himself. "It's hard to think of him as a pirate. He will forever be remembered as the hero of Arabasta." 

His thoughts were interrupted. The guardian named Chaka suddenly burst into the library. Igaram turned to face him in alarm. The large Arabastan guardian doubled over and tried to regain his breath; he had ran to find Igaram.

"What's the matter?" Igaram asked urgently.

"This," responded Chaka. He threw two pieces of paper onto the table Igaram was sitting at. He took a good look at the papers... and nearly fell out of his chair.

"My god!" he gasped. "Luffy-san and the others are in grave danger!"

Chaka had regained his breath at this point. "I know," he agreed grimly. "The highest-level Marines will be after them with bounties that high..."

"Come on!" Igaram said, springing from his chair. "We have to warn them!"

The two of them sprinted out of the room to find the Straw Hats. Igaram looked at the papers clutched in his hand again as he ran:

_**Wanted Dead or Alive **Roronoa Zoro: 60,000,000 beli_

_**Wanted Dead or Alive** Monkey D. Luffy: 100,000,000 beli_

Igaram clenched his teeth as he ran. (Luffy-san...! You must leave this place as soon as possible!)

* * *

Sanji sat up in bed. The infirmary was empty. He took out a cigarette and lit it. As he smoked, he looked up at the ceiling in deep thought. 

(Does Luffy really want me to leave the crew? I doubt it... but how are things going to be between us now? And what about Nami-san? Will she be okay? Will Vivi-chan join us? I hope she doesn't think she caused all this... That poor woman... I can't _believe_ Luffy. How could he do that? I didn't even think he was capable of pleasuring a woman...) He quickly pushed that thought out of his mind.

Suddenly, he heard running footsteps. He looked out the slightly open door to see what was going on. Igaram and some other guy were running toward the guest room. Sanji didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, it was definitely urgent.

Sanji frowned. "I better follow them..." he mumbled to himself. With a grunt, he got up out of the bed and walked as fast as he could to the guest room.

* * *

Luffy felt so damn depressed. Why did he screw everything up? First, he went against what his heart had been trying to tell him and had sex with Vivi, knowing damn well it was the wrong thing to do. Then, he allowed his anger to get the best of him and beat the crap out of Sanji. He even got Vivi in trouble in the process by shattering her window. 

Luffy lifted his head a bit and looked at Chopper, Usopp, and Zoro who were chatting on the other side of the room. Why were they all ignoring him? Did he piss _everyone_ off? How was he going to keep his crew together when no one liked him anymore? What if Vivi decided to stay here in Arabasta? Truthfully, it would probably be best if she stayed, but it didn't change the fact the she was Luffy's nakama and he really wanted her to come.

Another wave of sadness hit him. He bowed his head to stare sullenly at the floor again. Maybe he could go get something to eat... That always made him feel better...

Suddenly, Igaram and Chaka burst into the room. They were out of breath and had what looked like urgent expressions on their faces. Something was definitely up. Luffy and the others looked up at them in surprise.

"What's wrong?" asked Usopp in alarm.

"This!" Igaram answered, lifting two yellowish papers up in the air.

Luffy stretched out his arm and grabbed the papers. His crewmates' surprised expressions turned to him. He looked at the papers. His eyes went wide and he whistled. "Whoa!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Zoro, look!" He brandished his new wanted poster. "I'm worth 100,000,000!"

Zoro smirked. "Heh. What's that other one?"

Luffy stretched out his arm again and handed Zoro his wanted poster. Usopp and Chopper looked over the swordsman's shoulder and all three took a look at it. They all exclaimed in surprise; Zoro sounded happy and the other two sounded alarmed. "60,000,000!" they all cried out.

Igaram and Chaka looked from Luffy's broad grin to Zoro's arrogant grin in shock. "How could you two be so happy about this?" Chaka asked, mouth gaping in disbelief.

"It's about time I get a bounty," Zoro said smugly.

"100,000,000!" Luffy exclaimed again. "Wow, I'm _really_ wanted now! Ha ha ha!"

Sanji sauntered in. He walked past the two Arabastans and stopped behind Zoro. "What?" he said angrily. "Why does this Marimo get a bounty and I don't? That ain't right."

Zoro smirked up at him. "Just more proof of your worthlessness, shit cook."

"Why you-!"

"Stop!" cried Chopper. "Sanji needs to _heal_ for once!"

"W-What do you all plan on doing now?" asked Igaram.

Everyone except Sanji turned towards Luffy. It seemed to Luffy that the cook was determined to ignore him now. Luffy ignored the returning wave of sadness as he thought about what to do.

"Hmmm... We should leave as soon as possible. Tonight would be best." They all looked surprised. "We don't want the Marines chasing us here," continued Luffy. "We don't want to cause you guys any more trouble..."

"Well, you shouldn't worry about giving us trouble," replied Chaka, "but it is too dangerous for you guys to stay at any one place for too long. Not with prices _that_ high on your heads."

Luffy shrugged. "Whatever. We're still leaving tonight."

"I'm going to go find Nami-san," said Sanji very quietly. He left without once looking at his captain.

* * *

Nami heard everything. She was hiding right outside the guest room doorway. She didn't want to face Luffy just yet. When she heard Sanji coming, she quickly ran into another room. Actually, she didn't want to face _anyone_ involved in the fight right now. 

Nami was about to step back out of the room when she heard Igaram say, "I'll go inform Vivi-sama of your decision."

Nami waited until the large man's footsteps completely faded. She walked out. She was starting to think about what she should do when she heard yet another voice.

"I'm gonna go and get as much leftovers from the feast as I can get."

Nami didn't bother hiding again. She just calmly walked right past Luffy as she walked to the guest room. They didn't even glance at each other. When she got in the guest room, she released breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

"Nami!" said Zoro. "There you are! Love cook just left to go look for you."

"Oh, he did?" she asked, forcing herself to sound mildly surprised. "I didn't catch him on his way out. Oh, well. So what's going on?"

"We have to leave right away," said Usopp grimly. He got up, walked up to Nami, and handed her the two wanted posters. She clapped a hand to her mouth in mock surprise. "My god! These bounties are high as hell! You're right, we gotta get out of here before the Marines raid Alubarna looking for us!"

The four of them started to pack. Sanji returned after they finished. "Oh, Nami-san, there you are," he said. She nodded without looking at him.

Zoro picked up his and Luffy's things and walked out. "I'm going to go get Luffy before he clears out the entire food supply here." Usopp and Chopper followed soon after. They went to go ask if the Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad could help them get to their ship. Nami and Sanji were left alone.

Sanji turned to face Nami. "Nami-san, I'm sorry I started that fight." Nami sighed. "Sanji-kun, please, I don't want to-" "No, please listen to me," Sanji interrupted her gently. "I had no right to start a fight like that. But when Luffy admitted that he did it on purpose... that he knew he would break your heart..."

The cook took a deep breath to calm himself. "...I lost it. I just lost it. I should have controlled myself and allowed you to handle it. Maybe I should never have gotten involved in this in the first place."

Nami's eyes filled with tears. "Sanji-kun... don't say that. It was good of you to help, and..." She started sobbing. She allowed Sanji to wrap his arms around her in a gentle, comforting hug. She hugged him back and forced herself to stop crying. "Seriously, Sanji-kun, I'm grateful. You made Luffy realize his feelings for me... You have _no _idea how happy that made me feel..."

Sanji broke the hug and placed his hands on her shoulders. "But how is it making you feel now, Nami-san?"

She frowned. She shrugged his hands off her shoulders and walked over to her stuff. "I don't know," she said in a steady voice. "I honestly don't know what to think... I almost wish everything could go back to the way it was, when Luffy and I were just good friends."

"_Almost_ wish?" asked Sanji, raising a curly eyebrow.

Nami looked at him. "Please, Sanji-kun, not now. I don't want to worry about Luffy right now. We need to concentrate on leaving."

He nodded and started to lift his stuff, but stopped as he winced in pain and clutched his ribs. Nami rushed over to him and relieved him of his burden. "No, Nami-san," Sanji protested. "A lady should never have to-"

"Save it," she said shortly as she started to walk out the door with both her things and Sanji's things. Sanji watched her retreating back as his eyes turned into hearts. He floated after her. "Aaah, Nami-san, so thoughtful and beautiful and strong and beautiful..."

Nami suppressed a giggle. She was actually glad that Sanji had turned back to his normal, skirt-chasing self.

* * *

The Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad was waiting for the Straw Hat Crew at the front of the palace. King Cobra, Igaram, Chaka, and Vivi were all there waiting with them. As the rest of the crew started loading their stuff onto the helpful ducks, Usopp took Vivi to the side. 

"So, what have you decided?" he asked her quietly.

Vivi shook her head. "I don't know yet. I-I have to make a speech tomorrow. I just can't decide, Usopp-san..."

Usopp smiled. "It's okay. We already planned for that. We thought you wouldn't have been able to decide yet. You haven't had much time to think about it, so we'll give you the night to come up with a decision. Tomorrow at noon, the Going Merry will be at the north edge closest to Alubarna. If you want to come with us, we'll pick you up there. Fair enough?"

Vivi nodded. "Great idea, Usopp-san. Thanks a lot."

Usopp walked over to the crew and helped them finish loading their stuff. They then got on top of the remaining ducks. They turned around to face their hosts one last time.

"Luffy-san," Cobra said warmly. "We will never forget you. Your kindness will go down in Arabastan history."

"Yes," agreed Igaram, wiping a tear from his eye. "You've done so much for our country... and you kept Vivi-sama safe, too. We will always be indebted to you."

Zoro smirked. "Don't mention it. It was actually a lot of fun."

"Yeah!" agreed Luffy. "I was more than happy to kick Crocodile's ass for you!"

The four Arabastans laughed at this.

"Goodbye!" called Chopper as they started to turn around. "Maybe we'll come visit someday!" Usopp added. "Thanks for the Arabastan recipes!" Sanji called. "We'll never forget you all!" Nami chimed in.

And finally, after all farewells were said, the Straw Hat Crew left for their ship. Cobra, Chaka, Igaram, and Vivi all waved as they watched them ride into the distant sunset.

The four Arabastans stopped waving when their heroes were completely out of sight. They turned back towards the palace and headed back in. Cobra put an arm around his daughter's shoulders. "I'm sure you'll see them again," he said warmly with a twinkle in his eye. Vivi looked up at her father and smiled. "I hope."

When they got back in, Vivi yawned and said she was going to bed. "Remember, Vivi-sama," Igaram reminded her, "you have a speech to make tomorrow. Are you prepared?" Vivi nodded. "Hai," she replied. "Don't worry."

Igaram smiled. "Good."

Vivi finally went up to her room. A temporary replacement window was already in place. She fell heavily onto her bed. It had been made for her while she was gone. The sheets were nice and clean. She sighed as she turned onto her side and closed her eyes.

"What am I going to do...?" she mumbled to herself. She then fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

The ride to the Going Merry was uncomfortable to say the least. Luffy and Nami rode as far away from each other as possible. The tension between them was still very heavy. It was almost unbearable for the rest of the crew. Usopp nudged his duck closer to Luffy's. 

"Luffy, are you going to try to make up with her?" he said over the noise of the running ducks.

"Don't talk to me about that," Luffy replied rather coldly.

Usopp shook his head. He couldn't understand it. How could two people who loved each other so much be so stubborn? Because it was quite obvious to the crew (except Chopper who was too naïve to know such things) that the two were still madly in love. How could they tell, you ask? It would be impossible to answer that. It's just one of those feelings you get.

Sanji was also thinking about Luffy and his navigator. He had already subjected himself to getting the two of them together once before; why give up now? Beneath the coldness they expressed toward each other, their love for each other still burned. Nami-san would be quite happy if she and Luffy made up. Sanji rubbed his chin thoughtfully...

Zoro was thinking about his next training routine. He was too weak if he had had so much difficulty fighting Mr. 1. He could actually care less about his captain's love problems. Still, it was obvious to the swordsman that the two of them still wanted to get down each other's pants. Zoro glanced at Nami and shrugged. Could he blame Luffy for wanting to? She really was pretty damn hot, and if Zoro cared for such things, Nami would be his first target.

Chopper was busy thinking about... whatever it is that reindeer think about, because he sure as hell had _no_ idea what was going on.

* * *

They reached the Going Merry by morning. Or at least, they reached the spot where it was supposed to be. 

"Where the hell is Merry?" Usopp exclaimed. "I'll _kill_ whoever took it... How _dare_ they touch Kaya's gift?"

"Ah, so it's important to you because that little blond hottie gave it to us?" said Zoro, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Usopp blushed. "Sh-shut up, Zoro!" he retorted angrily.

They heard a voice in the distance. They looked in the direction it was coming from. "It's coming from up that river!" said Nami, pointing.

The Going Merry hadn't gone far. It was hidden behind an outcropping of rock. And on the deck waving enthusiastically to the Straw Hats was...

"_Mr. 2?_" Sanji exclaimed incredulously.

"Get the hell off our ship!" yelled Luffy.

Mr. 2 frowned. "What, what, what? Can't a friend say hi to his friends?" He smiled a huge, rather hideous looking smile. "I like helping out my friends!" he cried as he nimbly twirled around on the ship's railing.

Everyone sweat-dropped.

Sanji stepped forward. "What do you mean, 'helping'? What did you do?"

"Why, I moved your ship!" said Mr. 2 happily. "We can see that," Sanji sighed exasperatedly. "But _why_ did you move it?"

"Ah, yes," Mr. 2 answered solemnly. "The Marines would have destroyed your ship if I did not hide it. And now, come quickly! Get on your ship! My faithful crew and I will guide you out and do our best to protect you from those Marines!"

The Straw Hats had no choice; they boarded the Going Merry.

The ex-Baroque agent was true to his word. As soon as they shoved off, Mr. 2's swan boat also came out of a well-concealed spot a little further up the river. Mr. 2's faithful crew was on it, and they were just as determined as their eccentric leader was to get the Straw Hats out safely.

"Mr. 2, why are you our friend?" Usopp asked.

"Ah, please, do not call me by that name anymore!" Mr. 2 wailed. "I am not a part of that evil, evil agency any longer. I am once again Bon Clay, the master of ballet!" "Yes, Bon Clay-sama!" his crew cheered somewhat dramatically as he struck a pose.

Everyone sweat-dropped again.

Despite Mr. 2's help, the Marines gave the Straw Hat Crew a very rough time. The fleet was surprisingly large, and they were pretty accurate with the cannons. "We're gonna siiiiink!" wailed Usopp. Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, and Mr. 2 were all huddled in a big hug and were all sobbing. "Bon-san, what should we do?" cried Chopper.

"Would you guys get serious?" Zoro and Sanji yelled.

"Guys!" Nami called. "Hard turn to port!" "Hai, Nami-san!" Sanji replied enthusiastically.

Mr. 2 raised an eyebrow. "Oi, oi!" he exclaimed in confusion. "What are you dooooing? We have to keep going straight to escape the Marines!"

"Sorry, Bon-san," said Usopp, "but we made a promise to our nakama."

Mr. 2 instantly burst into tears. His crew on the swan boat followed suit. "Oooooh, it warms my heart to see such _loyal_ friends!" He jumped up onto the railing and struck a dramatic pose as he closed his eyes in extreme sadness. "Alas, this where we must part ways. Keep your promise! There is nothing in the world more important than promises made between friends! We shall do our best to hold off the Marines for you!" With tears flowing from his eyes, he smiled serenely at the Straw Hat Crew. "We shall... meet again! As good friends always do!"

He leaped onto his ship. He and his crew were all crying. "Goodbye, Straw Hats!" they called.

"We'll miss you!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all responded, tears flowing from their eyes as well.

Mr. 2 bravely charged the fleet of Marine ships. He and his crew were able to cause quite a distraction. Many of the ships started to lag behind as the Going Merry sailed as fast as it could to the promised meeting spot to greet Vivi.

"Where is she?" Luffy called in despair. "I don't see her!"

Nami glanced at Luffy. (He _really_ wants her to join us...) she thought, slightly angrily.

At first, it seemed she wasn't going to make it. Zoro turned to Luffy. "Hey, the Marines are starting to catch up. We gotta get going."

Luffy bowed his head. He was about to deliver the command to move on, but then they heard a familiar voice.

"Wait! Guys!"

They turned excitedly. It was Vivi. She was dressed in a very stunning white and blue formal dress. She still had a Den Den Mushi in her hands. She had just come from her speech.

She spoke to them through it. It apparently was also a megaphone because her magnified voice easily reached their ears.

"When I traveled with you guys, I had some of the greatest times of my life. I learned a lot about the sea while with you. We laughed, we cried, we fought, we partied... I will never forget you guys, and neither will my people! You are heroes!"

It was apparent where this was going. The Straw Hats' enthusiastic faces started to fall.

"But what I really want to know is..." Tears started flowing from the princess's eyes. "What I really want to know is... _will you ever forget **me**? After all we've been through... do you still call me your nakama?_"

She finished and started to sob softly as she awaited their answer with baited breath.

Luffy rushed up to the railing and was about to shout his answer to her, but Zoro quickly grabbed him and put his hand over his mouth. "Stop!" he hissed. "The Marines are too close! If they see that Vivi is associated with pirates, she will get in huge trouble!" "Then what are we going to do?" whispered Sanji.

She kept waiting. She started to sob a little harder as they remained silent. (Can I blame them?) she thought miserably. (After all that's happened... after me and Luffy-san...)

Then the crew lined up in front of the railing facing Vivi. With their backs turned to her, they silently raised their hands into the air. She gasped. They were showing the X marks on their wrists in response. They all had made X marks on their wrists to make sure that Mr. 2's copying ability wouldn't fool them. Those X marks were a clear symbol of their relationship. She was still their nakama.

Vivi raised hers in response. "Thank you!" she called happily through her tears. "Come back and visit some day! I'm going to miss you so much! Goodbye, everyone!"

And with that, the crew left Vivi without knowing whether or not they would ever see her again.

* * *

The Straw Hat Crew were finally able to lose the Marines. 

Sanji sat down on the deck. "Well, that's that," he sighed. "We might not ever see Vivi-chan again."

Usopp saw the look on Nami's face and quickly said, "We don't know that for sure. Besides, talking about it is just gonna make it worse. We all miss her; let's just not talk about it."

Sanji made lunch. It was very uncomfortable for everyone. In fact, it was always uncomfortable when Luffy and Nami were in the same room now. They finished as quickly as possible. Nami was the first to get up. She went into the little study next to the kitchen. Luffy got up right after her and went out onto the deck.

Usopp sighed heavily as the rest of the crew stayed at the table and ate in silence. "This is so stupid," he said quietly. "Those two need to get together again." "Ah, let them take care of it," Zoro said dismissively. "It's their relationship, their problem." With that, he got up and went out onto the deck to take a nice, long nap.

Sanji shook his head. "You're right, Usopp. Things just won't be the same again until those two just suck it up and apologize to each other."

"What are you talking about?" asked Chopper earnestly.

Usopp looked at the reindeer. "Luffy and Nami love each other."

"I thought we _all_ loved each other," said Chopper, tilting his little head to the side in confusion.

"Oh, god," Sanji groaned. "Not again... Your turn, Usopp." He got up and started cleaning dishes. Usopp looked at him in confusion.

"My turn?" he repeated with the same amount of confusion that was expressed on his face.

* * *

Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Zoro were all hanging out on the deck. Chopper now had a general idea of what was going on between Nami and Luffy, so he was trying to cheer up Luffy along with Usopp. Zoro was asleep. 

"Luffy, come on!" Usopp finally snapped. "This is ridiculous! Either cheer up on your own and go back to being our overly cheerful captain, or go make up with Nami!"

"Usopp... I can't," Luffy replied quietly.

Usopp was taken aback. He was expecting Luffy to blow off the subject again. "Why?"

"Because... I screw things up all the time. And I know Nami doesn't want me back. It's so obvious."

"No, Luffy, it's obvious that you two want to be together again!" Usopp disagreed urgently. "You need to talk to her!"

"No," said Luffy simply. He stretched his arms up to the crow's nest and launched himself up into it.

"Maybe they _don't _want to be together," said Chopper sadly, looking up at Usopp. "No!" said Usopp fiercely. "They do, damn it! They better do something about it soon, or I swear I'm going to go crazy...!"

"Just give it time."

Chopper and Usopp jumped out of their skin at the unfamiliar voice. They whipped around and came face to face with the cold-blooded female murderer, Nico Robin.

* * *

"Nami-san..." said Sanji with a sigh. He finished cleaning the dishes and sat down at the dining table beside Nami. She looked so depressed. 

"What?" she sighed.

"You know what," replied the cook. "You know exactly what. The crew isn't going to be the same until you two make up."

"But..." she said, "but... what's the point? I mean, how long will it take for something else to go wrong? Probably not too long. Besides... he doesn't want me back. He wants Vivi back..."

"No!" Sanji said loudly, startling Nami. "Nami-san, you are in love with him, right?"

"I... I don't-"

"Yes, you _do _know," interrupted Sanji softly. "It's yes or no, dear Nami-san. Do you love him?"

"I'm... really, Sanji-kun, I'm just not sure..."

"Nami-san, stop wondering whether or not he loves you back! That should not affect your answer! Just ignore that for now. _Do you love him_?"

"I... well..." She gave up. "...Yes... I love him..."

A single tear fell from her eye. Sanji reached over and caught it with his finger. "Well, guess what?" he whispered. "Anyone in this crew will tell you he likes you back. Even Marimo sees it. You two still love each other."

Nami shook her head. "You don't know that," she said more firmly. "_I _can see that he still loves Vivi."

Sanji was about to tell her that he never loved Vivi in the first place when they heard Usopp and Chopper scream in fright. Both he and Nami immediately jumped up and ran out of the kitchen.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing on my ship?" demanded Luffy. He and the whole crew were on the deck facing Nico Robin, except Nami who was watching from the top of the stairs leading up to the kitchen. 

"I'm here to join you," she replied calmly. She smiled. "You have no choice. It's your punishment. When you saved me from that collapsing tomb, I told you to leave me to die. I have nothing to live for, and I wish you would have let me died. So, instead, I am going to be your nakama. Besides," she sat down and smiled even wider, "I have no where else to go. I have no home or friends or family."

Everyone turned to look at Luffy. He just stood their blinking in confusion. Then he shrugged. "Okay. That makes senses." He walked away.

Sanji was positively delighted. His eyes became hearts as he gazed upon the deadly beauty, Robin, the brand new member of their crew.

"WHAT?" yelled Usopp. "There's no way I trust her!"

Sanji kicked him. "Shut up, Usopp!" He turned to face Robin again. "My dear radiant beauty, what shall I call you? Robin-swan? Or maybe Robin-chwan? Ooooh, I just cannot _decide_." She grinned at him. "Do you want something to drink, my love?" asked Sanji adoringly. "Coffee, please," she answered. "Coming right up!" he cried as he rushed to the kitchen.

After having an "interview" with Usopp, Robin convinced everyone else that she was trustworthy. Except Nami.

However, Nami fell in love with her instantly when she handed the navigator a large ruby. "Ooooh, my!" she squealed, eyes replaced by beli signs. "This is such a large ruby! And so rich in color! Look at the depth! This has to be at least 300,000 beli!" She hugged Robin. "Thank you, Ni-chan!"

Everyone sweat-dropped.

* * *

Not much changed with Robin on board. All she did was lounge on the deck and read novels. 

Luffy and Sanji finally made up. They apologized to each other one night when going to asleep, and that was that. Their fight was never mentioned again.

Also, two days later, Luffy and Nami were still ignoring each other. Now Usopp _really_ had enough. He decided to call an emergency meeting in his workshop. Everyone went except Luffy, Nami, and Zoro because he was napping.

"We're making a plan!" Usopp declared. "We are getting Luffy and Nami back together!"

"And how do you plan on doing that?" asked Robin with interest. She was sitting with her chin in her hand propped up by her elbow.

"That's what this meeting is for!" said Usopp. "Now, does anyone have any ideas?"

"We have to somehow set it up so the two can talk to each other in private," said Sanji thoughtfully.

"I know!" cried Chopper. Everyone looked at him in surprise. He faltered. "Go on, Dcotor-san," said Robin gently.

"Um... we uh... get Luffy and Nami together in... um, a room and, uh... barricade the door?"

They all were silent. Then Usopp cheered. "Great idea!"

Sanji grinned. "Good job, Chopper. You may have something there."

Chopper blushed and started doing his funny little dance. "Hey, you know you can't make me happy with your little compliments! Asshole! Shut up, you stupid asshole! Hee hee."

Robin laughed. "He obviously enjoys it."

Usopp grinned. "All right, so here's what we do..."

* * *

Luffy was sitting on the ram's head as usual. He suddenly noticed how very quiet it was on the ship. He turned around. "Huh? Where is everyone?" 

Suddenly, Usopp burst out of the kitchen. "Luffy, quickly! Lots of meat, you'll never believe this! We're overflowing here...!"

"MEEEEEEAT!" Luffy screamed. He made a mad dash for the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Sanji was bursting into Nami's mapmaking room. "Hurry, Nami-swan! Treasure, and lots of it! In the kitchen! We just found a huge underwater chest, and it's loaded...!"

"MONEEEEEEEY!" Nami screamed. She made a mad dash for the kitchen.

When she got in, she looked wildly around. "Moneymoneymoneymoney," she kept chanting. She stopped. "Money?" All she saw was Luffy. She immediately turned around and tried to leave, but the door was barricaded. It wouldn't budge.

"Huh? Where's the meat?"

Nami whipped around, her eyes wide with shock. It was just her and Luffy... together in the kitchen... alone.

Then it hit her. "Those guys...!" she growled. "I'll KILL them!"

She started banging wildly at the door. "LET ME OUT, DAMN IT!" She turned around and faced Luffy. He looked angry, too. "Those bastards tricked us!" Luffy exclaimed. "Stand back, Nami!" She did so.

"GOMU GOMU NO BAZOOKAAAAA!"

The door stood no chance. The door and all the crates and barrels behind it shattered. Chopper in his man-beast form went flying; he was blocking the door, too. He turned small again and was about to fly off the ship, but a pair of hands suddenly sprouted out of the side of the ship and caught him. They threw him back onto the ship. He looked at Robin. "Thank you," he muttered. Robin smiled in response.

Nami and Luffy, meanwhile, were on a rampage. They were beating the living crap out of Usopp and Sanji. When they were done, they went back to their separate places without even looking at each other.

* * *

The four Straw Hats were meeting in the workshop again. Usopp and Sanji were heavily bandaged and had many large bumps on their heads. 

"Okay," said Usopp through a fat lip, "time for a Plan B."

"Um, are you sure you guys are okay?" asked Chopper. "Maybe we should give up for now..."

"NO!" Sanji and Usopp yelled at the same time causing little Chopper to jump in fright and cower behind Robin.

Robin simply laughed at the situation. (This is quite the interesting pirate crew I've joined here...) she thought bemusedly.

* * *

Nami was back in the mapmaking room. She couldn't believe the nerve of those guys... How _dare_ they try to force her and Luffy to make up? 

"They just don't get it," she muttered to herself sadly. "It won't work."

Suddenly, Usopp and Robin burst into the room.

"Hey, guys, what's- AH!"

Usopp took one arm and Robin took the other. They steered her out of the room and out onto the deck.

"LET GO, YOU TWO! JUST FORGET IT! YOU CAN'T PUSH THESE THINGS!" Nami screamed.

Meanwhile, Luffy was in the kitchen. He sighed while watching Sanji cook. Suddenly, Sanji turned around and yelled, "NOW, CHOPPER!"

Chopper burst into the room in his man-beast form.

"Rumble! Arm Point!"

His arms grew huge as he bear hugged Luffy from behind.

"Ack-! Can't – breathe...!" choked Luffy. Chopper carried Luffy out onto the deck with Sanji right behind them.

Nami and Luffy suddenly found themselves facing each other on the middle of the deck. Chopper shoved Luffy and Usopp pushed Nami. They crashed into each other. They automatically wrapped their arms around each other to keep from falling. They were about to break apart, but then their eyes met. They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds while in each other's arms. Nami blushed a little.

Then they snapped out of it.

* * *

"GOD DAMN IT!" yelled Usopp thickly behind two fat lips. They were meeting in his workshop again. "It almost worked! But they kept ignoring each other after they beat the shit out of us! IT'S NOT FAIR!" 

"I would agree with you," said Sanji faintly, "but the numerous concussions make it hard for me to think right now..."

Even Chopper was bandaged and bruised. Robin was the only one untouched because she had wisely kept her distance.

"Plan C! This one MUST NOT fail!" declared Usopp.

Robin laughed again when he saw the slightly insane expression on his face.

"I think I'm going to take this into my hands now," said Robin, smiling.

* * *

It was the evening. They had an amazing dinner. Sanji made sure it was especially exquisite to get Luffy and Nami in really good moods in preparation for the plan. Robin didn't tell them what the plan was, but they all knew that she wouldn't fail. Their only instructions were to keep the two lovers as happy as possible throughout the day. They did their part well. 

What they didn't know was that she had gotten Zoro involved.

They all went out onto the deck after dinner. It was a beautiful evening. The sky was clear, there was a good steady breeze, and the temperature was perfect. Luffy and Usopp were cracking up as Chopper marched around the ship with chopsticks up his nose. On the other side of the ship, Robin was talking to Nami about some of the most amazing treasures in the world, and Nami was happily making plans to find them and become rich.

Luffy and Nami were in really good moods. Everything looked good to Sanji. He smiled.

Night fell. They were all still having a great time. Zoro walked up to Luffy.

"Hey, you wanna spar? Swords vs. fists?"

"Yeah!" answered Luffy excitedly. He flexed his arm. "This should be fun!"

They fought for a pretty good while while Chopper, Usopp and Sanji watched at a safe distance. It looked like an even fight, but Luffy was worn out from the day's events while Zoro was well rested from his constant napping.

"I've got you now!" Zoro yelled triumphantly.

He slashed Luffy diagonally across his chest. Blood spurted out of the long wound. His eyes went blank and he fell to the floor.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Zoro. He rushed over to his captain's prone figure. "Damn, I'm sorry, Luffy!"

Chopper and Usopp started freaking out. When they weren't looking, two hands sprouted out of the floor beside Luffy's head. They were holding a very heavy text book. The hands smashed Luffy's head with it. The hands threw the text book far away from the scene and disappeared again. Luffy would be out for at least a minute.

Robin and Nami came running over. "What happe- AAAH!"

Nami screamed at the sight of Luffy on the floor motionless and bleeding all over the place.

"I'll treat him!" yelled Chopper. "I'll get him to regain consciousness first...!" "No!" Zoro hissed. "This is the plan!" Chopper and Usopp looked at him wide-eyed, then went back to freaking out. Now they were acting, and they were doing a great job. Zoro smirked.

Nami rushed over to Luffy's motionless body. She fell onto her knees beside him and put his head in her lap. "What happened?" she yelled.

Zoro stepped forward. "I-I'm sorry. We were sparring and-"

"YOU IDIOT!" Nami screeched. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

She checked Luffy's pulse. It was very slow since he was out cold. He was also still breathing.

"Luffy, wake up... Luffy, you're okay, I know it... I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything! Whether or not you feel the same way... I love you...!"

Usopp and Chopper were moved to tears. Sanji groaned inwardly, wishing that he could be Luffy. He forced himself to giet over it and gave Robin the thumbs up. Robin smiled at Zoro. Zoro smirked again.

Luffy started to stir. He slowly opened his eyes.

"N-Nami?"

Nami gasped. "You're awake!"

To everyone's horror, she quickly dropped his head and stood up. She started backing away as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Zoro helped Luffy up. "Was she holding my head...?" he asked in confusion.

She kept backing up. She then turned to try and flee, but several pairs of arms sprouted out of the deck in front of her. They grabbed her. She yelled. "Let go!" she demanded, looking at Robin.

Luffy just stood there watching Nami, looking dazed.

More and more arms sprouted out of the deck. They were passing the struggling Nami from one pair of hands to the next. The result was kind of like a conveyor belt pushing Nami towards Luffy.

Finally, she reached Luffy. The last pair of hands threw her at him. He instinctively caught her. Once again, they found themselves in each other's arms. Once again, their eyes locked and they froze.

This time Nami spoke.

"Damn them..." she muttered without any anger in her voice. "Why won't they learn... you can't push these things..."

"You were holding my head..." Luffy muttered. "Why? You don't love me anymore. I always screw everything up..."

"Baka," she whispered. "You're the one who loves Vivi instead of me."

Luffy slowly shook his head. "No... I don't."

Nami turned away and started to let go. "Well, I know you don't love me anyw-"

"SHUT UP!" Usopp yelled. "GET ON WITH IT!"

Sanji kicked him. "Don't rush these things!"

Luffy didn't let go of her. She couldn't get out of his arms. "Luffy..." she whispered, embarrassed. "Come on, they're just tr-"

Luffy bent down and kissed her. She stiffened, then melted into his arms and started kissing him back. It lasted for a good few seconds, and they both felt as if a huge load was lifted off their shoulders.

Everyone cheered, except Zoro who still really didn't care. Luffy and Nami broke the kiss and looked around at everyone.

"Thanks guys, for everything," said Nami, smiling. Luffy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I shoulda listened to you guys in the first place. Look! You were right; she _does_ like me!" Nami blushed a bit and said, "I should have listened, too."

"Well, that's what nakama are for," Usopp sighed happily, relieved that it was finally over. "Nakama are always there to knock a bit of sense into each other whenever it's needed."

"Yeah!" cried Chopper. "Everything's better now! So everyone's gonna be happy again from now on, right?"

"It seems that way," Sanji replied coolly, taking a drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke back out, and grinning.

Nami nodded. "It's true. Everything will be fine now." She looked up at Luffy's face. They smiled at each other. "So what now, Captain?" she asked, smiling playfully.

Luffy let go of her and jumped into the air. "WAHOOOOO! PARTY!"

Everyone laughed and agreed. This was the perfect time for a little nighttime celebration.

Soon they bust out all the alcohol they had and Sanji made tons of little snacks. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had their arms around each others shoulders and were doing the cancan. Nami and Robin were watching and laughing.

Zoro was lounging against the mast and was grinning broadly as he chugged down more and more grog.

Usopp started doing impressions. He did Buggy the Clown, Arlong, Mr. 4, Crocodile, Smoker, Dr. Kureha, Wapol, and even Sanji. Sanji kicked him pretty damn hard for mocking him, though. Needless to say, the impressions ended immediately after.

Sanji passed drinks around to everyone. Usopp then proposed a toast. "To Luffy and Nami! May you never have stupid arguments and piss us off again!" "KANPAI!" everyone laughed as they drained their glasses. More drinks were passed, and Luffy made a toast. "To my pirate crew! May we forever stay faithful to out nakama and to our dreams!" "KANPAI!" More drinks, and this time Zoro made a toast. "To... uh... all of us! Ah, screw it, let's get drunk!" "KANPAIIIIIII!" everyone cheered enthusiastically.

The party became more like an ordinary day. Robin was reading, Zoro and Sanji were fighting, and Usopp was telling Chopper wild stories while Chopper rocked backi n forth like a little child, looking at Usopp with amazed, sparkling eyes. Luffy and Nami were sitting against the mast together, their arms around each other's waists and her head resting on his shoulder.

"You know," said Luffy wistfully, yet cheerfully, "there are times when I really wish we had a musician... and this is one of them."

Nami laughed. "You never give up, do you?" she teased playfully. Luffy grinned. "I try not to!" he replied proudly.

It was getting late. People wanted to go to bed. When it was time to choose who was going to keep watch during the night, Luffy volunteered to everyone's surprise. Chopper went to bed first. Actually, he fell asleep on Robin's lap, so Robin put down her book and carried him to his bed, then went to the girls' room and went to bed herself. Usopp yawned and said that even famous, invincible captains of the sea need to get sleep every once in a while, so he headed to his hammock. After giving Nami-swan a "fond farewell" and wishing her a "wonderful night", Sanji went to bed, too. Nami planted a kiss on Luffy's lips and said good night to him. "I'll be back later," she whispered in his ear.

Luffy happily sauntered over to Zoro and sat down heavily next to him. The swordsman was still busy getting drunk. "Thanks, Zoro," said Luffy. "I know you slashed me on purpose."

Zoro laughed. "No problem, captain. Once Robin told me I could use my swords, I was more than happy to help."

_**Flashback**_

**"Swordsman-san? Can I speak to you for a moment?"**

**Zoro stops his pushups and stands up to face Robin. He raises an eyebrow curiously. "Yes?"**

**"Well," Robin starts, "it's about our captain and navigator..."**

**Zoro immediately shakes his head and turns around as if to leave. "Forget it," he says shortly. "I don't wanna get involved; relationships and shit like that aren't my thing, in case you haven't noticed. Besides, I never butt in my captain's problems unless he asks me to."**

**Robin shakes her head. "Ah, Swordsman-san, what a shame. Your nakama need you, yet you turn them down?" She shrugs, turns around, and starts walking away. "Oh, well. Whatever, I suppose. Your part was to have a fight using your swords..."**

** Zoro suddenly stops her with his hand on her shoulder. She turns to face him. His eyes are twinkling with anticipation. "Fight?" he repeats hopefully. Robin nods. "But alas, you already said no..." she sighs. She starts to walk away again when...**

**"Wait!"**

**She turns to face him yet again.**

**"I'll do it," he says, brushing his hand against the hilts of the three swords strapped to his side. "I need a good practice fight... So I have to go against Luffy, right?"**

**_End Flashback_**

Zoro laughed. "Man, was she convincing. That woman really is quite the convincer! I think she'll be okay with us." He chuckled and a little grog spilled down his chin.

Luffy also laughed. "Yeah, she's scary! But not as scary as Nami when she gets angry." "Too true!" Zoro laughed in agreement. "You got yourself a feisty one, Captain! Good luck with her, man." He pat Luffy heavily on the back. Luffy gave his ridiculously huge grin. "Thanks, Zoro."

They started to talk about the fight. Luffy unbuttoned his vest and showed Zoro how Chopper had sewn up the minor sword wound across his chest. "That won't scar," grunted Zoro, gulping down more grog. "Not like Mihawk's damned sword..."

Luffy nodded listlessly and started to button up his vest again in silence. Mihawk was always a very touchy subject with Zoro...

Luffy drank with his first mate for a little while longer. He had fun talking to Zoro like this; they almost never got to hang out like this. Eventually, Zoro got up shakily. "See you in the mornin', man," slurred the swordsman. "I'm done." He stumbled to the boys' quarters. "Okay, good night!" Luffy called to him happily.

Luffy watched him with a warm smile. "Ah, I am so lucky to have nakama like him!" he sighed happily. He got up, stretched, and walked up to the railing and looked up. "Oooooh, pretty stars!" he said to himself. "Ah, such a nice night to keep watch. Ha ha ha! If there wasn't perfect weather, I would never volunteer for this! Ha ha ha ha!"

"Why, Captain, that's mean."

Luffy whipped around to see Nami walking up to him. They smiled at each other. They hugged. Luffy smelled the familiar scent of her hair; shampoo mixed with the faint scent of tangerines from working in her little tangerine patch. Nami looked up at the sky. "My god," she gasped. "It _is _beautiful..." "Hee hee!" chuckled Luffy. "Yeah, like you!"

"Awww!" Nami squealed. "Did you just compliment me? You're such a gentleman!"

"I always compliment you," said Luffy, frowning. She waved that away. "Yeah, about my navigating and stuff. I'm talking about the kind of compliment you gave me just now. I love it when you tell me I'm beautiful, or perfect, or any of that stuff... It's just so sweet coming from you... and annoying coming from Sanji-kun..."

They laughed. Luffy tucked her loose hair behind her ear. "I love you, Luffy..." she said. "Yeah, me, too," he replied with that winning smile of his.

Their lips met in a passionate kiss. Their tongues soon thrust out of their mouths and they roamed around, rubbing against each other as they explored each other's mouths. Nami started to moan into his mouth. She pulled away and grinned slyly at him. She pushed him down onto the floor of the deck.

"Whoa, hey!" exclaimed Luffy, smiling. He made it sound like he was surprised, but he was definitely enjoying every moment of it. Nami giggled.

His head was slightly propped up by the side of the ship. She got on her hands and knees on top of him without touching him. She happened to be wearing a shirt with a plunging neckline. Luffy got quite a view. She smirked at the look on his face and moved one hand up to his head and casually tossed his straw hat to the side. She bent down to kiss him again. As they kissed, he ran his hands down the length of her body and grabbed the bottom of her shirt. She straightened and allowed him to pull her shirt over her head. She unbuttoned his vest and it pulled it off. She kissed his bare chest as he reached behind her and took off her bra. She trailed kisses down his body, looking up at his face. She slowly unzipped his pants and pulled them off. Luffy grabbed her and rolled over so she was on the bottom. He trembled as he pulled her shorts and her panties off...

"What's the matter, nervous?" she whispered. "Yeah..." Luffy admitted. "This is my first time, after all..."

That simple statement nearly took Nami's breath away. (He purposely said that to make sure I know he doesn't care about what he did with Vivi... He wants to make it like none of that ever happened.) Nami smiled and moaned as he lowered his face to her bare chest. (We can all say he is clueless or brainless or whatever... but is he really? Well, he sure as hell has his moments.)

She trembled as she felt his hot tongue run across her sensitive flesh. When he was done, he raised his face and grinned at her. She smiled again. Once again they rolled so she was on top. She pulled his boxers off. She bent her head down and kissed him. He reached up and caressed her face. Their tongues hungrily thrashed about in each other's mouths. They broke the kiss, both out of breath.

"I'm so sorry, Nami..." he breathed.

"What?" she asked in surprise. "Why?"

"You know why... you know what I'm apologizing for. You are the only one I've ever liked... well, you know..." She giggled. "Yes, I do."

"Well," he continued. "You need to know... I never had feelings for her. She is my nakama, nothing more." He grinned. "So this really is my first time."

She stroked his face. "I apologize, too... I shouldn't have yelled at you without stopping to think first..."

They stopped talking as their lips met in yet another kiss. However, this one was somehow special; it held more meaning to them than any kiss they had before. They pulled away.

She took his hands and guided his hands down to her slim waist. He grabbed onto her waist and guided it. She settled in on top of him.

And so, beneath the clear night sky, Luffy and Nami became one, the stars twinkling and casting their faint light down upon them. As they spent their first night together, for at least that one night, the Grand Line was no longer a scary place; it was a paradise, and nothing could ever go wrong in their lives.

THE END.

**Ugh! If only I did not suck at endings. :P Oh, well, who cares? This is my first completed fic ever! YES! **

**Mugiwara Pirates: KANPAI!**

**Ah, this was a lot of fun. Thanks for all your support and reviews. Does anyone want a sequel? Yes? No? Maybe so? Considering this fic was more of a test of my romance-writing skills, the sequel should be better. And it would be much longer, too. Every single person who wants a sequel better say so in a review! Lol. Thanks a lot for reading, everyone! Well, until next time...!**

**Mugiwara Pirates: KANPAI...! AGAIN! **


	18. Epilogue

Epilogue

The sandy-haired man walked back into the bedroom. He gazed upon the beautiful, pale-skinned woman lying in their bed, still fast asleep.

He walked over to her and gently shook her in an attempt to wake her up. It was no easy task; his wife was a very sound sleeper.

Eventually, she responded. She opened her eyes, yawned, and stretched.

"Good morning, honey," she said, brushing the stray blue hair out of her face with her hand and smiling up at her husband.

"Baby... I'm sorry to wake you up, but... I've got a message for you."

He sounded slightly out of breath. She frowned. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"No," he shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Well, tell me!" she demanded playfully.

"Okay, okay... It's a pirate ship. At the southern most docks."

"Pirate... ship...?" she said in confusion. Then she gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth.

"Can it be...!"

"Come on," he said, taking her hand and helping her out of bed. "Get dressed, and we'll go see."

Her mind started racing as she slipped into a simple dressing gown.

(After a year and a half... is this possible?)

**Ha ha, surprise! There was an epilogue! A very short epilogue! Ah, I am so proud of myself right now... lol. Yeah, anyway, I have the first chapter of the sequel written already; I will post it next Saturday. I am telling you now, the sequel is much different from this story... In fact, the only connection between this fic and the sequel is that Luffy and Nami are still together. Besides that, everything is different, even the genre, which is primarily action/adventure, but do not worry; there will still be plenty romance, too. So, yeah... until next time!**


End file.
